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This is an extract from a piece of fiction:

基本的に『除隊』は『レベル・ゼロ』という特殊牢送りを指す『The Tower』において、彼が職を辞すには正式に引退する必要があったのだ。

I am having a bit of trouble understanding what "送りを指す" means in this context and it's not a phrase I've come across yet in my studies. How is it being used here?

From my attempt at a translation, I think it would be something like:

Basically, as for a "discharge from military service" it was necessary to officially retire in order to quite his job at "The Tower" [送りを指す] which is special prison called "Level Zero".

So what could the 送りを指す mean?

To me the best I can think is:

Selected to be sent

Which doesn't seem to fit in the sentence at all. I think there's a possibility it's some sort of set phrase that can't be translated too literally since I've seen a lot of that in Japanese. But if someone could clarify that would be awesome, I'm really curious about what the extract is actually saying!

BalaNii
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    You are parsing the sentence incorrectly. There is no such set phrase as 「送りを指す」. Instead, look at 「特殊牢送り」 as a noun phrase. As for 「指す」, I suggest that you look it up in a monolingual dictionary if you are already reading something like this in Japanese. –  Jun 12 '17 at 01:05
  • The whole sentence defies my parsing... unless it's actually two sentences, with a period after 指す. – goldbrick Jun 12 '17 at 21:43
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    @goldbrick 「『The Tower』では、基本的に『除隊』は『レベル・ゼロ』という特殊牢送りのことを指す。」と「『The Tower』において、彼が職を辞すには正式に引退する必要があったのだ。」がくっついた文やと思てました – chocolate Jun 13 '17 at 03:46
  • @Chocolate ぉお・・・　解ったあとに見直したら馬鹿みたいになんてことない文ですね・・・　ありがとうございます。 Please forget about my comment above. – goldbrick Jun 13 '17 at 22:26
  • @goldbrick この文がなんかヘンに見えるのは「除隊が」ではなく「除隊は」になってるからなのかなー、と。修飾節内で「は」はあまり出てこないので。説明しろと言われたら「引退と除隊を対照させているcontrastive-waだから」と言うしかないんでしょうが。 – naruto Jun 14 '17 at 15:30
  • @naruto そうですね。もし「除隊が」だったなら「除隊」と「...特殊牢送りを指す」の主述関係をすぐに認識出来たと思います。「は」によって、どういう具合か、「除隊」は関係詞節に含まれず、述部は文のもっと後の方に来るだろうという予測が植え付けられて、見事に袋小路に入り込みました。 – goldbrick Jun 16 '17 at 23:23

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基本的に『除隊』は『レベル・ゼロ』という特殊牢送りを指す『The Tower』において、彼が職を辞すには正式に引退する必要があったのだ。

See the other answer for what 特殊牢送り means. Here, 送り itself means the action of sending (see this answer). 牢屋送り is a relatively common set phrase meaning imprisonment. Everything before "The Tower" is a relative clause that modifies "The Tower". So the whole sentence means:

In The Tower, where "discharge" basically meant being cast into a special prison called Level Zero, he had to officially retire in order to quit his job.

naruto
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  • I think this is the more correct translation and usage of the phrasing that OP is asking, per putting together the pieces of information from all the answers given – psosuna Jun 14 '17 at 00:16
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特殊牢送りを指す

This is parsed as others said as:
特殊牢送り + を + 指す

指{さ}す is a verb that means to indecate or mean something.

特殊{とくしゅ}牢{ろう}送{おく}り is a combined noun made of 特殊牢{とくしゅろう} and 送{おく}り.
特殊牢{とくしゅろう} is a contraction of 特殊{とくしゅ}な牢屋{ろうや}, where 特殊な meanas specil and 牢屋 means jail/prison", so 特殊牢 means a specila jail.

ＡＡＡ送{おく}り means to be sent to ＡＡＡ, where ＡＡＡ is a special place which usually, but not always, has a nuance of the last place after being given a decision.

特殊牢送りを指す means, as a whole, it/this/that indicates to be sent to a special jail.

Examples of ＡＡＡ送{おく}り:

  • 検察{けんさつ}庁{ちょう}送り to be sent to Public Prosecutor's Office
  • 東京{とうきょう}送りの品{しな}　goods to be sent to Tokyo
  • 爆殺{ばくさつ}奈落{ならく}送りの術{じゅつ} martial arts like killing with a bomb that sends someone to hades
  • 異界{いかい}送り to be sent to the underworld/ spirit world
  • 黄泉{よみ}送り to be sent to the world of the dead
Community
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user20624
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まず、日本に住んでいて‘’特殊牢送り‘’という言葉を使った事がありません。 タイピングで変換にすら出てきません。

ちなみに、使い方は‘’牢送りを指す‘’ではなく単に‘’指す‘’ですが、｢〇〇を指す｣という感じで使います。

英語だと、「If you say "boot" in the southern US, it refers to the trunk of a car.」 「アメリカの南部では「boot」と言ったら、車のトランクのことを指す。」みたいな感じで使います。

user22512
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  • そういう使えば、「～を指す」っての意味は、別の意味を付けるという出そうだけど、あるいは、「特殊牢送り」＝"Sending to a special jail"の意味を付けてるんじゃありませんか？ – psosuna Jun 14 '17 at 00:12