| n. | 1. | A keeping or guarding; care, watch, inspection, for keeping, preservation, or security. |
| 2. | Judicial or penal safe-keeping. | |
| 3. | State of being guarded and watched to prevent escape; restraint of liberty; confinement; imprisonment. |
| Noun | 1. | custody - a state of being confined (usually for a short time); "his detention was politically motivated"; "the prisoner is on hold"; "he is in the custody of police" |
| 2. | custody - holding by the police; "the suspect is in custody" | |
| 3. | custody - (with `in') guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child; "my fate is in your hands"; "too much power in the president's hands"; "your guests are now in my custody"; "the mother was awarded custody of the children" Synonyms: hands |
CUSTODY. The detainer of a person by virtue of a lawful authority. To be in custody, is to be lawfully detained under arrest. Vide 14 Vin. Ab. 359; 3 Chit. Pr. 355. In another sense, custody signifies having the care and possession of a thing; as, the chancellor is entitled to the custody as the keeper of the seal.
administration, auspices, captainship, care, chairmanship, charge, cold storage, confinement, conservation, convenership, cure, custodianship, dead storage, detention, dictatorship, directorate, directorship, dry storage, eagle eye, foremanship, generalship, governance, government, governorship, guard, guardedness, guarding, guidance, hands, headship, hold, imprisonment, incarceration, intendancy, invigilation, jurisdiction, keep, keeping, leadership, lookout, management, managership, mastership, ministry, monitoring, observance, overseership, oversight, pastorage, pastorate, pastorship, patronage, peeled eye, preservation, presidency, preventive custody, proctoring, proctorship, protection, protective custody, protectorship, prudence, qui vive, safe hands, safekeeping, sharp eye, shelf-room, sovereignty, stewardship, storage, storage space, stowage, superintendence, superintendency, supervision, supervisorship, surveillance, trust, tutelage, vigil, vigilance, ward, wardenship, wardship, warehousing, wariness, watch, watch and ward, watchful eye, watchfulness, watching, weather eye, wing