Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A defensive obstacle made by laying felled trees on top of each other with branches, sometimes sharpened, facing the enemy.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In the middle ages, an officer of the stables who had the care of measuring out the provender; an avenor.
- noun In fortification, a barricade made of felled trees denuded of their smaller branches, with the butt-ends of the trunks embedded in the earth or secured by pickets, and the sharpened ends of the branches directed upward and outward toward an advancing enemy, for the purpose of obstructing his progress.
- noun In coal-mining, walls of cord-wood piled up crosswise to keep the underground roads open so as to secure ventilation.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Fort.) A means of defense formed by felled trees, the ends of whose branches are sharpened and directed outwards, or against the enemy.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a line of defense consisting of a barrier of felled or live trees with branches (sharpened or with barbed wire entwined) pointed toward the enemy
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I mean that the Wilderness woodsmen, without orders from Clay, had converted the entire area that would have to be traversed into a natural death trap, an abatis, a French word my grandfather did not know, nor did I when I first heard it.
Mexico Michener, James 1992
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Her feet, of a kind that painters call abatis, rose above the varnished leather of the shoes in a swelling that was some inches high.
Pierre Grassou 2007
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Her feet, of a kind that painters call abatis, rose above the varnished leather of the shoes in a swelling that was some inches high.
Pierre Grassou 2007
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High entanglements (known as abatis) may be made by felling trees toward the enemy, and similar entanglements made of brushwood are useful in emergency.
Military Instructors Manual Oliver Schoonmaker
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MODs lay minefields, dig AT ditches, emplace demolitions, and create other obstacles, such as abatis or log cribs to block forest roads.
FM 100-61 Chptr 12 Engineer Support United States Army 1998
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MODs lay minefields, dig AT ditches, emplace demolitions, and create other obstacles, such as abatis or log cribs to block forest roads.
FM 100-61 Chptr 12 Engineer Support United States Army 1998
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"abatis" from the fallen trees, while earthworks commanding the position were soon erected.
Incidents of the War: Humorous, Pathetic, and Descriptive Alf Burnett
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Get engineers to build Pontoon bridges and abatis, and use sharpshooters to snipe at the enemy from a safe distance.
Back To Gettysburg 2008
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Nivelles highway, and there overflowed in a large pool in front of the abatis of trees which barred the way, at a spot which is still pointed out.
Les Miserables 2008
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They cleared the ground in front of the works, lacing it with abatis.
Cavalryman of the Lost Cause Jeffry D. Wert 2008
skipvia commented on the word abatis
"Rubbish in front of a fort, to prevent the rubbish outside from molesting the rubbish inside." Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary.
October 14, 2007