Bivvy

noun, verb, slang

noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A small tent or shelter. colloquial

    "It would be alarming and disconcerting if people sleeping on roll-mats in central London emerged from their bivvies at breakfast, box-fresh, and sporting a crease down each leg of their slacks."

  2. 2
    Beer. UK, obsolete, slang

    "Well, if you're willing to sub me a shant of bivvy, then I'll tell ya"

Verb
  1. 1
    To erect, or to stay in, such a tent or shelter.

Example

More examples

"It would be alarming and disconcerting if people sleeping on roll-mats in central London emerged from their bivvies at breakfast, box-fresh, and sporting a crease down each leg of their slacks."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From bivouac + -y.

Etymology 2

Perhaps related to beverage.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.