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.

laager

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of laager¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of laager¹

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

Example Sentences

The former Financial Times editor Lionel Barber tweeted: “Postscript to the #Verbier break-out: the British must now officially count as the laager louts of Europe.”

From The Guardian

The painting lies on the floor of her “laager” – a storage barn open to the elements, apart from a metre-high stone wall, which you have to clamber over with the help of a rickety chair.

From The Guardian

It is against this background that MPs beyond the rightwing English nationalist laager into which Johnson has locked his party must assess Corbyn’s offer to create a time-limited national government.

From The Guardian

It sends them scurrying behind a laager.*

From Literature

Their prevailing image of communal unity was the “laager,” the barricaded circle of pioneer wagons.

From The New Yorker