I. ˈbarək also ˈber- or -rik or -rēk noun
( -s )
Etymology: French baraque, from Middle French, from Old Catalan barraca
1. : a hut used for temporary shelter especially for soldiers
he lodged in a miserable hut or barrack composed of dry branches and thatched with straw — Edward Gibbon
2. or barracks plural but singular or plural in construction
a. : an often permanent building or set of buildings used especially for lodging soldiers in garrison
stepped into the barrack and blew his whistle — L.M.Uris
the dormitory where I was quartered was like an army barracks — John Cheever
b. : the regular quarters of the Salvationists
3. or barracks plural but singular or plural in construction
a. : a building or a group of buildings often like a shed or barn in structure and appearance that provides temporary housing (as for a group of workmen)
the construction gang occupied a wooden barrack on the site of the job
accommodated in a barely furnished barracks for commercial travelers — William Sansom
b. : a large building or set of buildings housing a number of people (as a crowded tenement house) that is characterized by extreme plainness or an air of dreary uniformity
the big house on the hill … and the factory barracks in the valley — W.A.White
the grim, toplofty barracks that we are now building — Lewis Mumford
4. Northeast : a structure with a movable roof sliding on four posts used to cover a hay or straw rick
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to lodge in barracks
buildings … used to barrack George Washington's troops in 1775 — Official Register of Harvard University
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: origin unknown
intransitive verb
chiefly Australia : to shout usually at a person or team engaged in a contest:
a. : jeer , heckle
had to undergo some barracking for playing slowly — P.F.Warner
b. : root , cheer
his game would lose a lot of its venom if the crowd were not barracking for him — Jack Crawford
transitive verb
chiefly Australia : to shout at derisively or sarcastically
the crowd started to barrack me and shout for me to kick the ball clear — Irish Digest