Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
breastwork [brest-wurk] EXAMPLES|WORD ORIGIN noun Fortification. a defensive work, usually breast high. Liberaldictionary.com
Origin of breastwork First recorded in 1635–45; breast + work Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019 Related Words for breastworks barricade, stronghold, mainstay, citadel, fortress, bulwark, reinforcement, bastion, ridge, fence, barrier, wall, parapet, support, guard, defense, hill, embankment, protection, elevation Examples from the Web for breastworks Historical Examples of breastworks
In front of the hill were the breastworks; in front of the breastworks woods.
Personal Recollections of a Cavalryman
J. H. (James Harvey) Kidd
Then in the afternoon there was a grand charge upon the Rebel breastworks.
Charles Carleton Coffin
Rodes’s Alabamian’s passed the abattis, touched the breastworks.
Mary Johnston
The British were within two hundred yards of the American breastworks.
Henry Mann
The regiments were all under arms at the breastworks at six o’clock.
M. J. (Michael Joseph) Canavan
British Dictionary definitions for breastworks breastwork noun fortifications a temporary defensive work, usually breast-highAlso called: parapet Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for breastworks breastwork n.
“fieldwork thrown up breast-high for defense,” 1640s, from breast (n.) + work (n.) in “fortification” sense. Old English had breostweall in same sense.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
