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bivouac Definition

biv·ouac (bivwak′, -o̵̅o̅ ak′)

noun

  1. Archaic a night guard to avoid surprise attack
  2. a temporary encampment (esp. of soldiers) in the open, with only tents or improvised shelter

Etymology: Fr < Ger dial. (Swiss) biwacht, night guard < OHG bi-, by, with + wahta, watchman < wahhen, watch, wake

intransitive verb -·acked′, -·ack′·ing

to encamp in the open

bivouac Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • build: Before doing so, it is worth reflecting on why I would not build the traditional bivouac.
  • make: We made some bivouacs ( natural shelters ) for our Advanced Scout Standard Award in the woods.
  • force: After a forced bivouac on the ridge, they descended the next day before returning to Gangotri the day after.

Preposition: on

  • ridge: You will require two good days of fine weather to attempt the traverse including one overnight bivouac on the ridge.

Adjective modifier

  • overnight: You will require two good days of fine weather to attempt the traverse including one overnight bivouac on the ridge.

Modifies a noun

  • shelter: We hope they will be found safely holed up in one of the bivouac shelters on the ridge.
  • area: The Army then moved four miles inland to a bivouac area where, first of all, everyone had to marry up again.
  • hut: Some have standard facilities, including taps, toilets, bivouac huts and firewood; others are more basic.
  • bag: We offer the use of hammocks, flysheets, sleeping mats and bivouac bags if you don't want to bring a tent.
  • tent: That night we slept on the beach in a bivouac tent.
  • gear: Carry emergency bivouac gear including flashlight and/or candles, and a means for attracting attention such as a whistle and/or flares.

Noun used with modifier

  • emergency: An introduction to survival shelters and emergency bivouacs will be included.
  • mountain: Bags of this thickness are used regularly in high mountain bivouacs and could, in emergency, save life in this country.
bivouac Quotes

I could have transformed this greyassembly hall into an armed camp of Blackshirts, a bivouac for corpses. I could have nailed up the doors of Parliament.

—Mussolini, Benito also called Il Duce [the Leader]

Browse dictionary entries near bivouac

  1. bivalve
  2. bivalent
  3. bivalence
  4. bituminous coal
  5. bituminous
  6. bituminize
  7. bitumen
  8. bitty
  9. bitterweed
  10. bittersweet
  1. biweekly
  2. biyearly
  3. Biysk
  4. biz
  5. bizarre
  6. bizarrerie
  7. bizarro
  8. Bizerte
  9. Bizet
  10. BJ