gu ‧ lag /ˈɡuːlæɡ $ -lɑːɡ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1900-2000 ; Language: Russian ; Origin: Glavnoe Upravlenie Ispravitel'no-trudovykh Lagerei 'Chief Directorate of Labor Camps' ]
one of a group of prison camps in the former USSR, where conditions were very bad