(within a fortification) a platform or mound of earth from which guns may be fired over the parapet instead of through embrasures.
Navy. an armored cylinder for protecting the lower part of a turret on a warship.
(formerly) an earthen platform inside a parapet, from which heavy guns could fire over the top
an armoured cylinder below a turret on a warship that protects the revolving structure and foundation of the turret
1765–75; < French, equivalent to barbe beard + -ette -ette, probably from the general metaphorical use of barbe for something which protrudes or faces outward
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Last came the ample habit-coat of heavy cloth, topped by a linen rochet and a stiffly starched barbette of cambric .
From Time Magazine Archive
Each of these ships had a barbette armed with a 10-inch gun fore and aft.
From Famous Sea Fights From Salamis to Tsu-Shima by Hale, John Richard
Each of the three monitors at Barrow displaced 1,200 tons, and carried two 6-inch guns mounted forward in an armoured barbette, two 4.7-inch howitzers aft, and four 3-pounder guns amidships.
From The Childrens' Story of the War, Volume 3 (of 10) From the First Battle of Ypres to the End of the Year 1914 by Parrott, James Edward
It was a parallelogram, and mounted barbette guns only.
From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Drake, Samuel Adams
A barbette battery on the cliffs of the Jersey shore, left of the ferry, fired down upon the frigate, but with little effect.
From The Student's Life of Washington; Condensed from the Larger Work of Washington Irving For Young Persons and for the Use of Schools by Irving, Washington
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
