barracks

British  

/ ˈbærəks /

plural noun

1. a building or group of buildings used to accommodate military personnel

2. any large building used for housing people, esp temporarily

3. a large and bleak building

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Etymology

Origin of barracks

C17: from French baraque , from Old Catalan barraca hut, of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

For decades, proportional response functioned less as a strategy than a ritual: hit a transmitter, strike a barracks.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

We spot those targets too, including a flattened barracks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, on the outskirts of Tabriz.

From BBC • Apr. 15, 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

Where dinosaur tracks coexist beside spooky rows of barracks left from a 16th-century monastery, there’s a spectacular view of coastline all the way back to the white spires of Lisbon.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

We started up the Lagerstrasse, past the endless streets of barracks.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom