English

Noun

tronk ‎(plural tronks)

1. (South Africa) A prison.
   • 1824, William John Burchell, Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa

     It must here be explained that the tronk, or jail, is the general receptacle, not only of convicted criminals, but of such Hottentots or slaves as are found, improperly or illegally wandering about the country...

   • 1958, Isobel Rae, The strange story of Dr James Barry

     The diary of another settler, who had been wrongfully imprisoned in the Tronk, and described the daily life there in no uncertain terms...

   • 1985, Lawrence George Green, Maureen Barnes, The best of Lawrence Green

     It was built, as far as I can discover, because the Cape Argus rightly denounced the overcrowding of the old "tronk" on the waterfront.