counterscarp
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of counterscarp
1565–75; counter- + scarp ( def. ) (modeled on Italian contrascarpa ); replacing counterscarfe, with scarfe obsolete variant of scarp ( def. )
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.
On the north end of the town is a casemated fort, with four bastions, a ravelin, counterscarp, and a glacis built with quarried shell-stones, and constructed according to the rudiments of Marechal de Vauban.
From The Spaniards in Florida Comprising the notable settlement of the Huguenots in 1564, and the History and Antiquities of St. Augustine, Founded A.D. 1565 by Fairbanks, George R.
Now, my first parallel is around here, six hundred paces from the counterscarp.
From Horse-Shoe Robinson A Tale of the Tory Ascendency by Kennedy, John Pendleton
In the latter case they have stairs leading down into a counterscarp gallery, which serves as a base for countermine galleries, and is connected with the detached bastion by a gallery under the ditch.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various
The steep declivity of the counterscarp was then fatally attacked, and after a time its perpendicular face was laid bare.
From The Falls of Niagara and Other Famous Cataracts by Holley, George W.
Arrived here, the fugitives must ascend the counterscarp, and cross the chevaux-de-frise with which it was furnished.
From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Drake, Samuel Adams
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.
