castle
noun
a fortified, usually walled residence, as of a prince or noble in feudal times.
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Castl.
castle
1 American
[kas-uhl, kah-suhl]
/ ˈkæs əl, ˈkɑ səl /
noun
-
castles
plural
-
a fortified, usually walled residence, as of a prince or noble in feudal times.
-
the chief and strongest part of the fortifications of a medieval city.
-
a strongly fortified, permanently garrisoned stronghold.
-
a large and stately residence, especially one, with high walls and towers, that imitates the form of a medieval castle.
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any place providing security and privacy.
It may be small, but my home is my castle.
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Chess. the rook.
verb (used with object)
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castles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
castled,
past participle, past
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castling
present participle
-
to place or enclose in or as in a castle.
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Chess. to move (the king) in castling.
verb (used without object)
Chess.
-
castles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
castled,
past participle, past
-
castling
present participle
-
to move the king two squares horizontally and bring the appropriate rook to the square the king has passed over.
-
(of the king) to be moved in this manner.
Castle
2
American
[kas-uhl, kah-suhl]
/ ˈkæs əl, ˈkɑ səl /
noun
castle
British
/ ˈkɑːsəl /
noun
-
a fortified building or set of buildings, usually permanently garrisoned, as in medieval Europe
-
any fortified place or structure
-
a large magnificent house, esp when the present or former home of a nobleman or prince
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the citadel and strongest part of the fortifications of a medieval town
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chess another name for rook 2
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
castlesimple
-
castlessimple
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have castledperfect
-
has castledperfect
-
am castlingprogressive
-
are castlingprogressive
-
is castlingprogressive
-
have been castlingperfect progressive
-
has been castlingperfect progressive
Past
-
castledsimple
-
had castledperfect
-
was castlingprogressive
-
were castlingprogressive
-
had been castlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of castle
before 1000; Middle English, Old English castel < Latin castellum castellum
Explanation
A castle is a huge, grand home where a king or queen might live. Almost all castles are also fortified against attacks by enemy armies. Most castles were built in the Middle Ages by royalty or other nobility. You can still visit many historic castles in Europe, most of them built of stone and including details like towers and guardhouses. You can also call the chess piece known as a "rook" a castle, for its castle-like shape. The word has an Old English root, castel, or "village."
Vocabulary lists containing castle
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She is the princess, and this is the castle she’ll be locked in, an indomitable beast of a citadel fittingly titled the Tower Hotel.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Brisk of step and sharp of mind despite his years and the hot winds that whip the castle, he stood at the foundations of a temple dedicated to Haldi, the warrior god of gods.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
I still have no idea why we had to spend so much time with her in that haunted castle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
She said touring the castle made her reflect on the crimes committed by the institution she leads.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
We landed in a pile of potatoes—mashed potatoes now—in the castle kitchen.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Meta's founder and CEO bought the three-storey Gothic-style Strancally Castle from the Alen-Buckley family in recent weeks.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
She travelled to Cape Coast Castle, one of the many coastal fortresses that had been run by the British, and where enslaved people were held before enduring the brutal "Middle Passage" to the Americas.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Emerson opposed “the whole institution of property,” though he owned a very nice house, known locally as Coolidge Castle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
The weather phenomenon was also seen north-east of Leeds Castle in Kent this weekend.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Mrs. Castle came close to the glass like a drowned face.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Forests, he reasoned, don’t uproot and storm castles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
No, that’s not me building castles in the sky.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
"Several castles have been saved by clan associations, and we are also seeing communities buying their local castle and running projects to save them as focal points for community life," she said.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026
When gunpowder arrived and the emerging nation-states rendered obsolete the old art of war dominated by feudal lords entrenched in their castles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
Food and clothing, land and castles, now weapons.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
In the fifth game, Nepo as White hits on the unusual strategy of launching a pawn storm right in front of his castled king.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 18, 2023
Debutant Emma Lamb was bowled for a second-ball duck and captain Heather Knight was castled by a Tahlia McGrath yorker, leaving England 19-2.
From BBC ● Feb. 8, 2022
As “Cleanness” moves forward, as if in a game of chess, positions are castled.
From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2020
Slowly things seemed to be turning Carlsen’s way; the kings were castled on opposite sides of the board, which often means each player will be racing to attack the other’s king.
From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2018
As it turned out, the old man never castled.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
Kf1 Qf6, the loss of castling is not a huge blow to White’s position, but Khamrakulov fails to appreciate the dangers lurking in the position.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 29, 2023
She saved the best for last, castling Kate Cross with another beauty: full and turning just enough to beat the edge as the batter aimed a shot through the leg side.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2022
In his new book, “Languages of Truth: Essays 2003-2020,” Rushdie attempts to perform a defensive castling move.
From New York Times ● May 24, 2021
Anatoly Karpov, the former world champion, was captured on video castling queen's side illegally, moving the rook before the king.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 22, 2013
The latter must not be done by castling.
From Chess Strategy by J. Du Mont
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.
