barrack

views updated May 17 2018

bar·rack / ˈbarək/ • v. [tr.] (often be barracked) provide (soldiers) with accommodations in a building or set of buildings: the granary in which the platoons were barracked.bar·rack2 • v. [tr.] Brit. & Austral./NZ jeer loudly at (someone performing or speaking in public) in order to express disapproval or to create a distraction: opponents barracked him when he addressed the opening parliamentary session [as n.] (barracking) the disgraceful barracking which came from the mob. ∎  [intr.] (barrack for) Austral./NZ give support and encouragement to: I take it you'll be barracking for Labour tonight?

barrack

views updated May 21 2018

barrack. Originally a soldier's tent or cabin, it came to mean a building for the lodgement or residence of troops. It is usually given in the plural, as barracks, indicating very large establishments.

barrack

views updated May 23 2018

barrack1 (usu. in pl.) soldiers' quarters. XVII. — F. baraque — Sp. barraca soldiers' tent, of unkn. orig.

barrack

views updated May 21 2018

barrack2 shout or jeer at. XIX. alt. of (Austral.) borak sb. banter (Aboriginal word).