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gulag

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A Russian prison camp for political prisoners.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

gyoolag

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɡjulæɡ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. A Russian prison camp for political prisoners

  2. by extension

    A prison camp, especially one used to hold political prisoners.

  3. by extensionalso figuratively

    A place where, or political system in which, people with dissident views are routinely oppressed.

  4. Alternative letter-case form of gulag.

verb

  1. transitiveinformalalso figuratively

    To compel (someone) into a forced labour camp or a similar place of confinement or exile.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.