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Bulwark
Definitions
- 1 A defensive wall or rampart.
"Let thouſands die, their ſlaughtered Carkaſſes Shal ſerue for walles and bulwarkes to the reſt:"
- 2 a protective structure of stone or concrete; extends from shore into the water to prevent a beach from washing away wordnet
- 3 A defense or safeguard.
"The royal navy of England hath ever been its greatest defence, […] the floating bulwark of the island."
- 4 a fencelike structure around a deck wordnet
- 5 A breakwater.
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- 6 an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes wordnet
- 7 The planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale that reduces the likelihood of seas washing over the gunwales and people being washed overboard.
"Entering that gable-ended Spouter-Inn, you found yourself in a wide, low, straggling entry with old-fashioned wainscots, reminding one of the bulwarks of some condemned old craft."
- 8 Any means of defence or security. figuratively
"The party stalwarts constitute the bulwark that ensures the president's term of office."
- 1 To fortify something with a wall or rampart. transitive
- 2 defend with a bulwark wordnet
- 3 To provide protection of defense for something. transitive
Etymology
From Middle English bulwerk, from Middle Dutch bolwerk, bolwerc and Middle Low German bolwerk, equivalent to bole (“tree trunk”) + work. Cognate with German Bollwerk, Danish bolværk, Swedish bålverk, Dutch bolwerk. Doublet of boulevard (from French boulevard, from Dutch); cognate with Portuguese and Spanish baluarte and Italian baluardo.
From Middle English bulwerk, from Middle Dutch bolwerk, bolwerc and Middle Low German bolwerk, equivalent to bole (“tree trunk”) + work. Cognate with German Bollwerk, Danish bolværk, Swedish bålverk, Dutch bolwerk. Doublet of boulevard (from French boulevard, from Dutch); cognate with Portuguese and Spanish baluarte and Italian baluardo.
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