Word
abatis
Definitions
01military defense
n. a barrier made of cut trees with sharpened branches pointing toward an enemy to slow them down.
n. a field fortification consisting of felled trees with sharpened branches directed toward the enemy, often reinforced with wire.
“The soldiers built an abatis from fallen oak trees to block the road.”
“The infantry found their advance halted by a dense abatis, where sharpened timber and barbed wire created an impassable zone under heavy fire.”
Archaic · Technical
Usage
Usually functions as a countable noun in military history contexts.
Synonyms
02mining structure
n. walls made of wood piled up in a coal mine to keep the air moving and the paths open.
n. a structure in coal mining consisting of cord-wood piled crosswise to maintain underground roadways and ensure proper ventilation.
“The miners stacked the wood to form an abatis along the tunnel wall.”
“Engineers inspected the abatis to ensure the timber stacks remained stable enough to prevent the ventilation shaft from collapsing.”
Technical
Usage
Primarily used in the context of 19th and early 20th-century mining engineering.
Synonyms
Etymology
From French abatis, abattis (“mass of things beaten or cut down”), from abattre. See abate.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.