Main Entry: gu·lag

Pronunciation: \ˈgü-ˌläg\

Function: noun

Usage: often capitalized

Etymology: Russian, from Glavnoe upravlenie ispravitel'notrudovykh lagereĭ chief administration of corrective labor camps

Date: 1974

: the penal system of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics consisting of a network of labor camps; also : labor camp 1