laager
UK/ˈlɑː.ɡə/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Canada/ˈli.ɡəɹ/
laager noun: a defensive encampment encircled by wagons, especially by South African Boers.
Noun
laager (plural laagers)
- A defensive encampment encircled by wagons, especially by South African Boers.
- Wagons […] can be readily formed into a laager, a camp, by being drawn into a circle, with the oxen placed inside and so kept safe from the attacks of wild beasts.1897, James Bryce, Impressions of South Africa
- “And for how long d'you think you're going to be safe in the cities?” Louis persisted. “Just a matter of time, then our frontiers will shrink as we draw our little laager more and more tightly.”1978, André Brink, Rumours of Rain, Vintage, published 2000, page 332
- A temporary formation of armoured vehicles for resupply.
Verb
laager (third-person singular simple present laagers, present participle laagering, simple past and past participle laagered)
- To arrange in a circular formation for defence.
- At the foot of this isolated mount, whereof the aspect somehow filled me with alarm, we camped on the night of January 21, taking no precautions against attack by way of laagering the wagons.1917, H. Rider Haggard, Finished
- To camp in a circular formation.
- That evening, we laagered close to a large open area covered with elephant grass about six feet high.2000, Jeff Dossett, Delayed Detonation, page 44
Forms of laager
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | laagers |
| alternative form | lager |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | laagers |
| present participle | laagering |
| past participle | laagered |
| past | laagered |
Origin of laager
From South African Dutch lager (“camp”) (modern Afrikaans laer), from German Lager, from Middle High German leger, from Old High German legar, from Proto-Germanic *legrą. Doublet of lager and lair.
Words that rhyme with laager
Questions about laager
- What does laager mean?
- Laager means a defensive encampment encircled by wagons, especially by South African Boers.
- What part of speech is laager?
- Laager can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce laager?
- Laager is pronounced /ˈlɑː.ɡə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of laager?
- The plural of laager is laagers.
Words near laager in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: laager (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “laager.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/laager. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.