(Sing Sing and many other prisons) Euphemism for the unpleasant quarantine procedure to which newly arrived prisoners are subjected. “Two weeks in reception and a root in the keister (kick on the rump) would cure half of them punks (young rowdies).”

- american underworld dictionary - 1950

Re*cep"tion (?), n. [F. r'eception, L. receptio, fr. recipere, receptum. See Receive.]

1.

The act of receiving; receipt; admission; as, the reception of food into the stomach; the reception of a letter; the reception of sensation or ideas; reception of evidence.

2.

The state of being received.

3.

The act or manner of receiving, esp. of receiving visitors; entertainment; hence, an occasion or ceremony of receiving guests; as, a hearty reception; an elaborate reception.

What reception a poem may find. Goldsmith.

4.

Acceptance, as of an opinion or doctrine.

Philosophers who have quitted the popular doctrines of their countries have fallen into as extravagant opinions as even common reception countenanced. Locke.

5.

A retaking; a recovery.

[Obs.]

Bacon.

 

© Webster 1913.

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