laager

or la·ger

[ lah-ger ]

noun
  1. a camp or encampment, especially within a protective circle of wagons.

verb (used with or without object)
  1. to arrange or encamp in a laager.

Origin of laager

1
1840–50; <Afrikaans laer, earlier lager; cognate with German Lager camp. See lair1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use laager in a sentence

  • The mountains were covered with cattle from the laagers about Glencoe Station.

  • After some heavy firing the laagers, which had been completely surprised, were captured with all their tents, etc.

  • We passed a bush and struck the source of the odour, a dead ox; and promptly apologised to the laagers.

    The Matabele Campaign | R. S. S. Baden-Powell
  • However, the balloon reports the presence of laagers of ten commandoes in sight.

    Ladysmith | H. W. Nevinson
  • The Boer laagers have increased in size, and are not so carefully hidden.

    Ladysmith | H. W. Nevinson

British Dictionary definitions for laager

laager

lager

/ (ˈlɑːɡə) /


noun
  1. (in Africa) a camp, esp one defended by a circular formation of wagons

  2. military a place where armoured vehicles are parked

verb
  1. to form (wagons) into a laager

  2. (tr) to park (armoured vehicles) in a laager

Origin of laager

1
C19: from Afrikaans lager, via German from Old High German legar bed, lair

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