noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An outwork in the main ditch of a fortification, in front of the curtain, between two bastions. historical

Synonyms

All synonyms

abatisbankbarbicanbarricadebarrierbartizan

Etymology

From French tenaille (“a pair of pincers or tongs”), from Latin tenaculum. See tenaculum and tenaillon.

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