BARRACK

n. & v. --n. (usu. in pl., often treated as sing.) 1 a building or building complex used to house soldiers. 2 any building used to accommodate large numbers of people. 3 a large building of a bleak or plain appearance. --v.tr. place (soldiers etc.) in barracks. øbarrack-room lawyer Brit. a pompously argumentative person. barrack-square a drill-ground near a barracks. [F baraque f. It. baracca or Sp. barraca soldier's tent, of unkn. orig.]