Dictionary

portacabin en · NOUN

Etymology

From the trademark Portakabin, itself from portable cabin.

Meanings

1. A prefabricated hut that is transportable, often used as an office or for storage.
   • At least I'm not in a portacabin. Whenever I find myself heading towards a peripheral portacabin, I experience the same visceral feeling that the French aristocrats had when they rode the tumbrels to Madame Guillotine. 2007, S.A.S.: Special Ace Supply (teacher), Quick Brown Fox Publication, →ISBN, page 11:
   • We have done our portacabin out with balloons, paper chains and “Support troop is One Step Beyond.” It looks all Christmassy, with the snow, it is quite good. 2009, Julian Beirne, Diary of a Sapper, Julian Beirne, →ISBN, page 298:
   • It was a standard port-a-cabin, twenty by twelve feet, with two small beds at either end, two lockers, and a table and chair between them. 2005, Paul Carter, Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs, Crows Nest: Allen and Unwin, page 55:

Forms