detention

Compared meaning: being officially held or detained (noun).

比较义项：拘留，监禁（名词）。

• custody

  A formal, often legal term for being held by police or state authorities, as in the phrase 'in custody'; not used for informal or school punishment.

  正式、常用于法律语境的说法，指被警方或国家机关拘留，如短语“in custody”（被拘留候审）；不用于非正式或学校处罚的情形。

  Police took the suspect into custody shortly after the robbery.

  抢劫案发生后不久，警方就将嫌疑人拘留了。

• detention 本词

  A broader term for officially being kept somewhere, ranging from immigration holding centers to a student kept after school; generally milder and less strictly legal than custody.

  含义更广，指被官方留置在某处，从移民拘留中心到学生放学后被留堂都可以用，语气通常比custody更轻，也不那么严格地指司法程序。

  The students stayed late for detention after breaking classroom rules.

  学生们因违反课堂纪律而放学后被留堂。

Custody and detention both can mean being held. Custody is formal, used in police or court contexts. Detention is broader: official holding by authorities, like immigration detention, or a student kept after school. Custody's other sense, legal responsibility for a child, is not compared.

这两个词在“被拘留、被关押”这一意义上相近，但custody更正式、常用于警方或司法语境，如短语“in custody”表示被拘留候审；detention含义更广，既可指官方拘留（如移民拘留），也可指学生放学后被留堂，语气通常较轻，不那么严格地指司法程序。此处不比较custody的另一义项“监护权”（如离婚后对子女的监护）。