Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A notched parapet built on top of a wall, with alternating merlons and crenels for decoration or defense.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In fortification, an indented parapet, formed by a series of rising members called cops or merlons, separated by openings called crenelles or embrasures, the soldier sheltering himself behind the merlon while he fires through the embrasure or through a loophole in the merlon.
- noun Hence Any high wall for defense.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One of the solid upright parts of a parapet in ancient fortifications.
- noun The whole parapet, consisting of alternate solids and open spaces. At first purely a military feature, afterwards copied on a smaller scale with decorative features, as for churches.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun In
fortification : anindented parapet , formed by a series of rising members calledcops ormerlons , separated by openings calledcrenelles orembrasures , the soldiersheltering himself behind the merlon while hefires through the embrasure or through aloophole in the battlement. - noun Any high
wall fordefense .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a rampart built around the top of a castle with regular gaps for firing arrows or guns
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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Below the battlement was a room, and - as Maedhlyn had said - it was filled with interlocking wheels and levers.
Last Sword Of Power Gemmell, David 1988
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Perpendicular window, the heads of the lights below the transom being cinquefoiled, while above each window is a cornice supported by small arches resting on corbels; over all is a pierced battlement, which is also crenelated at the actual east end.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See Philip Walsingham Sergeant 1912
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Along one side of the square there ran the high brick wall, topped with a kind of battlement, that guarded the Maharajah's palace grounds from the eyes of men.
Rung Ho Mundy, Talbot, 1879-1940 1914
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On the brow of this precipice stood a great building of the same granite that formed the cliff, built on three sides of a square, the fourth side being open, save for a kind of battlement pierced at its base by a little door.
Allan Quatermain Henry Rider Haggard 1890
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On the other side, up a steep incline, the rays of the setting sun shone against a rather imposing castle battlement.
Healing the Highlander Melissa Mayhue 2011
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On the other side, up a steep incline, the rays of the setting sun shone against a rather imposing castle battlement.
Healing the Highlander Melissa Mayhue 2011
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There is a barrel-shaped tower dedicated to the Brownings, a pyramid to Moses, a battlement-like tower dedicated to General John C. Frémont.
Joaquin Miller 2010
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There is the fierce sound of voices yelling and hooting as we race up toward the moat's edge, firing at will, firing over the long black cannons that nose out along the battlement, silently commanding the northern horizon.
Along the Battlement Paul de Denus 2010
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I would open an eye, waiting for it to absorb the scant light in the room, and I would see her on the far edge of the bed, the topography of her hips now a battlement to keep me at bay.
Lovely Craig Lancaster 2011
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Dougal looked to his left and saw a pair of Vanguard moving along the battlement toward them.
Guild Wars: Ghosts of Ascalon Matt Forbeck 2010
chained_bear commented on the word battlement
Jagged stone work protecting the wall walk or allure.
August 24, 2008
madmouth commented on the word battlement
"The raven himself is hoarse that croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements" -Lady Macbeth
April 12, 2009