Abatis

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Abatis \Ab"a*tis\, Abattis \Aba"t*tis\, ([a^]b"[.a]*t[i^]s;
     French [.a]`b[.a]`t[=e]") n. [F. abatis, abattis, mass of
     things beaten or cut down, fr. abattre. See {Abate}.] (Fort.)
     A means of defense formed by felled trees, the ends of whose
     branches are sharpened and directed outwards, or against the
     enemy.


     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  abatis
       n : line of defense consisting of a barrier of felled or live
           trees with branches (sharpened or with barbed wire
           entwined) toward the enemy [syn: {abattis}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  56 Moby Thesaurus words for "abatis":
     advanced work, balistraria, bank, banquette,
     barbed-wire entanglement, barbican, barricade, barrier, bartizan,
     bastion, battlement, breastwork, bulwark, casemate,
     cheval-de-frise, circumvallation, contravallation, counterscarp,
     curtain, demibastion, dike, drawbridge, earthwork, enclosure,
     entanglement, escarp, escarpment, fence, fieldwork, fortalice,
     fortification, glacis, loophole, lunette, machicolation, mantelet,
     merlon, mound, outwork, palisade, parados, parapet, portcullis,
     postern gate, rampart, ravelin, redan, redoubt, sally port, scarp,
     sconce, stockade, tenaille, vallation, vallum, work
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  ABATIS, n.  Rubbish in front of a fort, to prevent the rubbish outside
  from molesting the rubbish inside.