Nissen hut

[ nis-uhn ]

noun

1. a prefabricated, tunnel-shaped shelter made of corrugated metal and having a concrete floor; Quonset hut: first used by the British army in World War I.

Nissen hut

/ ˈnɪsən /

noun

1. a military shelter of semicircular cross section, made of corrugated steel sheet US and Canadian equivalentQuonset hut

Word History and Origins

Origin of Nissen hut¹

1915–20; after Lieutenant Colonel Peter N. Nissen (1871–1930), Canadian military engineer who invented it

Word History and Origins

Origin of Nissen hut¹

C20: named after Lt Col. Peter Nissen (1871–1930), British mining engineer, its inventor

Example Sentences

She said she would be living in a structure like a Nissen hut - an Army structure - but had "been reassured it's quite cosy".

From BBC

He says tank tracks can still be seen on the ground between the Whipping Stocks pub and the country house, though the Nissen huts that lined the grounds are long gone.

From BBC

Life in the RAF proved to be a series of Nissen huts, prefabricated structures made of corrugated iron bent over a semi-circular frame and heated with a single wood- or coal-burning stove.

From Seattle Times

Internees detained in RAF Nissen huts in wired compounds that look like a WW2 German Prisoner of War camp.

From BBC

They grew up on former Bobbin Mill site in Pitlochry, living in a prefabricated World War Two-style Nissen hut which had no electricity, a coal fire for heating and candles for lighting.

From BBC