bivouac

[ biv-oo-ak, biv-wak ]

/ ˈbɪv uˌæk, ˈbɪv wæk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bivouac ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a military encampment made with tents or improvised shelters, usually without shelter or protection from enemy fire.

the place used for such an encampment.

verb (used without object), biv·ou·acked, biv·ou·ack·ing.

to rest or assemble in such an area; encamp.

Nearby words

Origin of bivouac

1700–10; < French < Swiss German bīwacht auxiliary patrol, equivalent to bī- by- + wacht patrol, watch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bivouac

It was dark when Shackles and Little Nell had come slowly to where they could hear the murmur of the army's bivouac.
Wounds in the rain|Stephen Crane
As the whole afternoon was before us, we at once set to work to make our bivouac more than ordinarily comfortable.
The Campaign of the Forty-fifth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia|Charles Eustis Hubbard
But the entire corps got over safely and went into bivouac on the cold, wet ground.
Company G|A. R. (Albert Rowe) Barlow
To-night I must bivouac; to-morrow my trunk is to follow from the “Dragon.”
Lay Morals|Robert Louis Stevenson

On the bank of this rivulet, and under one of its bluffs, we chose a spot for our bivouac.
The Scalp Hunters|Mayne Reid

British Dictionary definitions for bivouac

bivouac

/ (ˈbɪvʊˌæk, ˈbɪvwæk) /

noun

a temporary encampment with few facilities, as used by soldiers, mountaineers, etc

verb -acs, -acking or -acked

(intr) to make such an encampment

Word Origin for bivouac

C18: from French bivuac, probably from Swiss German Beiwacht, literally: by + watch

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bivouac

bivouac

1702, from French bivouac (17c.), ultimately from Swiss/Alsatian biwacht "night guard," from bei- "double, additional" + wacht "guard" (see wait (v.)). Original meaning was an army that stayed up on night watch; sense of "outdoor camp" is 1853. Not a common word in English before the Napoleonic Wars. Italian bivacco is from French. As a verb, 1809, "to post troops in the night;" meaning "camp out of doors" is from 1814.