barracks
Britishplural noun
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a building or group of buildings used to accommodate military personnel
-
any large building used for housing people, esp temporarily
-
a large and bleak building
Etymology
Origin of barracks
C17: from French baraque , from Old Catalan barraca hut, of uncertain origin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
An inside student might say that prisons in eastern Oregon used to be mental institutions and Army barracks; an outside student might speak about modernity and the need for discipline and control under capitalism.
From Slate • May 27, 2026
On the first day of class, professor Reiko Hillyer writes a quote from French philosopher Michel Foucault on the board: Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?
From Slate • May 27, 2026
“It’s not just finding barracks for the troops to sleep,” Hodges said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
Besides the chapel, they are a trolley station, a wing of barracks and the superintendent’s and governor’s residences.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
All the following week the entire barracks was punished by an extra hour at attention.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
