abri

American  

[uh-bree, a-bree] / əˈbri, aˈbri /

noun

abris plural

1. a shelter, especially a dugout.

2. Archaeology. a rock shelter formed by the overhang of a cliff and often containing prehistoric occupation deposits.

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abri British  

/ æˈbriː /

noun

1. a shelter or place of refuge, esp in wartime

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• abris
  plural

Etymology

Origin of abri

< French, Old French, noun derivative of abrier (now obsolete or dial.) to shelter, shield, screen < Late Latin aprīcāre to warm in the sun (hence, to shield from wind, cold, etc.), verbal derivative of Latin aprīcus sunny, warmed by the sunshine; Old French b for v perhaps < Old Provençal abriar, or by construal of a- as prefix

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

abri abris

Hind, a local resident, said the frequent water outages forced her and her family to rely solely on their reserves of abri - a corn-based drink usually consumed during Ramadan - to quench their thirst.

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2023

Out, not within, abroad: soving abri, sleeping abroad, not in a house.�

From Romano Lavo-Lil: word book of the Romany; or, English Gypsy language by Borrow, George Henry

During one of these shelling spells, I reached cover of the road side abri and prepared to await clearer weather.

From "And they thought we wouldn't fight" by Gibbons, Floyd

Five months have passed since I last saw the inhabitants of this abri, the tenants of the "Ritz-Marmite."

From A Volunteer Poilu by Beston, Henry

An 8-foot trench, instead of a tunnel, connected the abris and gun emplacements, and the position was much lighter and dryer than 163.

From Battery E in France 149th Field Artillery, Rainbow (42nd) Division by Kilner, Frederic R.

The chief work was digging the abris and carrying up beams and concrete blocks from the road for their construction.

From Battery E in France 149th Field Artillery, Rainbow (42nd) Division by Kilner, Frederic R.

I've been in some twenty-five or thirty air-raids in four or five cities of France, and I have never yet seen many Americans who took to the "abris."

From Soldier Silhouettes on our Front by Stidger, William L. (William Le Roy)

And it was all—riding along the line, huddling in abris, sneaking scared to death along trenches, and ducking from the shells—all vastly diverting.

From The Martial Adventures of Henry and Me by White, William Allen

Elaborate abris, benches and tables woven of boughs about a cleared “Appelplatz,” and rifles, overcoats and other equipment spoke of the occupation of the same woods by the Germans not long before.

From Battery E in France 149th Field Artillery, Rainbow (42nd) Division by Kilner, Frederic R.