protective custody noun2 •Lawful confinement of a person or close supervision of his or her movements, on a voluntary or involuntary basis, by authorities in order to safeguard that person from attack or other dangers.A so‐called star witness in the Brooklyn grand jury inquiry of alleged links between the police and gamblers sought unsuccessfully yesterday to free himself from protective custody. — 1964 •The custody that CPS sometimes takes of children when those children are being abused or neglected and no other corrective action is successful or feasible.
