noun / proper noun
gulag
GOO-lahg/ˈɡuːlɑːɡ/
A Soviet camp for imprisonment and forced labor.
The memoir describes daily life in a Soviet gulag.
Etymology
The word abbreviates the name of the Soviet administration responsible for corrective labor camps. The administrative name came to denote the prison-camp system and an individual forced-labor camp.
In context
the gulag because there were millions of people in the gulag
More examples
- He spent ten years in a gulag before his release.
- Prisoners in remote gulags endured forced labor and bitter cold.
- The museum documents the Soviet Gulag's vast network of camps.
Forms
gulag · gulags
Similar words
- prison
- A general detention facility, not necessarily involving forced labor.
- labor camp
- Emphasizes compulsory work without specifying the Soviet prison system.