Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A temporary encampment often in an unsheltered area.
- v. To camp in a bivouac.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. An encampment of soldiers in the open air without tents, each soldier remaining dressed and with his weapons by him; hence, figuratively, a position or situation of readiness for emergencies, or a situation demanding extreme watchfulness.
- To encamp in the open air without tents or covering, as soldiers on a march or in expectation of an engagement.
Wiktionary
- n. An encampment for the night, usually without tents or covering.
- n. Any temporary encampment.
- n. The watch of a whole army by night, when in danger of surprise or attack.
- v. To set up camp.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The watch of a whole army by night, when in danger of surprise or attack.
- n. An encampment for the night without tents or covering.
- v. To watch at night or be on guard, as a whole army.
- v. To encamp for the night without tents or covering.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a site where people on holiday can pitch a tent
- n. temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers
- v. live in or as if in a tent
Etymologies
- French, from German dialectal beiwacht, supplementary night watch : bei-, beside (from Middle High German bi-, from Old High German; see ambhi in Indo-European roots) + Wacht, watch, vigil (from Middle High German wahte, from Old High German wahta; see weg- in Indo-European roots).
Examples
“We marched the next day to the foot of the Guadarama Pass, where our soldiers, when dismissed in bivouac, had a fine hunt after a wild boar, which they killed.”
The Autobiography of Liuetenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G. C. B.
“There we had plenty of room and quarters, no squabbling about the shade of a tree in bivouac, or your stable being previously occupied by cavalry or artillery horses.”
The Autobiography of Liuetenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G. C. B.
“I was lying in bivouac, talking to General Craufurd and John Bell, when a dragoon rode up with a note from General Cole, requesting Craufurd to send an officer as a guide to lead his division to the heights of Rendo at dusk.”
The Autobiography of Liuetenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G. C. B.
“As luck would have it, I found the site -- the Grand Army of the Republic 'bivouac' -- as members of the organization assembled for their moving, simple service of prayer, thanksgiving and reflection.”
“A bivouac is also a structure formed by migratory army ant and driver ant colonies, where a nest is constructed out of the living ant worker’s own bodies to protect the queen and larvae, and is later deconstructed as the ants move on.”
“The troops did not seem to be disposed in battle order, but on the other side of the bivouac was a line of battle -- a heavy rear-guard -- confronting, presumably, General Meade.”
“Our bivouac was a clump of trammon trees (elders) at the corner of the orchard which adjoined the farm buildings.”
“Marked a tree F 46 on the east side of the spring at our bivouac, which is in latitude 25 degrees 0 minutes 46 seconds South, longitude about 121 degrees 21 minutes East.”
“Our bivouac was a dense copse of pine-trees, exactly opposite to the French advanced posts, and there we passed the night, -- fortunately a calm and starlight one; for we dared not light fires, fearful of attracting attention.”
“On the Dakar, the bivouac is a snapshot of the world of motorsport fans.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bivouac’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Ayatollah's list
Trinkets of lexical goodness.
floccinaucinihili..., quomodocunquize, curmudgeon, illaqueate, ipsissimosity, heterochthonous, hakenkreuz, forisfamiliate, appropinquate, apodyopsis, baryphony, cachinnate and 146 more...
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Ends with C but not with "-ic"
bloc, roc, arc, orc, disc, sac, xebec, havoc, bivouac, sumac, maniac, insomniac and 418 more...
kewpid It's probably closest to 2-and-a-half syllables. Nov 13, 2007
yarb Another baffled three-syllabler here. Biv-wack?! Wot?! Nov 13, 2007
reesetee Interesting--didn't know until now that there was a three-syllable pronunciation for this. Jul 25, 2007
jennarenn dictionary lists two pronunciations: biv-oo-ak and biv-wak. Jul 25, 2007
reesetee The original Swiss word, bīwacht, is even more hilarious. Jul 24, 2007
slumry You mean three syllables like: "I don't biv uh wack!" (that was a joke, by the way--could not resist a little word play) Jul 24, 2007
seanahan I pronounce this with 3 syllables, so none of them sound like whack. Jul 24, 2007
jennarenn I find this word downright comical. Probably because the second syllable sounds like whack. Jul 24, 2007