Definition of "barracoon" [bar•ra•coon]

• A barracks in which slaves or convicts were formerly held in temporary confinement. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Presently appeared a kind of barracoon, a large square of thick cane-work and thatch about eight feet high, the Fetish house of the"
• "Presently appeared a kind of barracoon, a large square of thick cane-work and thatch about eight feet high, the Fetish house of the "Jinkimba" or circumcised boys, who received us with unearthly yells."
• "They were shut up safely in the "barracoon," -- such was the name of the large building -- and to-morrow, that day, or whenever the captain was ready, he would deliver them over."