rampart
[ram-pahrt, -pert]
- Fortification.
- a broad elevation or mound of earth raised as a fortification around a place and usually capped with a stone or earth parapet.
- such an elevation together with the parapet.
- anything serving as a bulwark or defense.
- to furnish with or as if with a rampart.
Origin of rampart
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com2. fortification, breastwork, barricade, guard.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for rampart
Contemporary Examples
The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days.
Rogue L.A. Cop’s Facebook Manifesto: ‘You Will Now Live the Life of Prey’The Daily Beast
February 8, 2013
And, Denzel Washington and Woody Harrelson as corrupt characters in, respectively, Safe House and Rampart.
Flick Picks: Denzel Washington as a Baddie, Rachel McAdams in ‘The Vow’Ramin Setoodeh, Peter Travers
February 10, 2012
In Rampart, Woody Harrelson plays a corrupt, violent LAPD officer.
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story misstated the official release date of Rampart.
I first discovered Hitchens from the other side of the rampart.
Historical Examples
We went, and walked in silence to and fro along the rampart of the fortress.
A Hero of Our TimeM. Y. Lermontov
Until he, Ercwlf, Descended into the fosse of the rampart, And was covered with sand.
Y GododinAneurin
It was certain death for any Indian to step from behind his rampart.
King PhilipJohn S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
A pallid sun, low, gleaming just over a rampart of mountain-tops.
The Hound From The NorthRidgwell Cullum
Others shot their horses and built a rampart of their bodies.
Henry IV, Makers of HistoryJohn S. C. Abbott
rampart
- the surrounding embankment of a fort, often including any walls, parapets, walks, etc, that are built on the bank
- anything resembling a rampart in form or function, esp in being a defence or bulwark
- Canadian a steep rock wall in a river gorge
- (tr) to provide with a rampart; fortify
Word Origin
C16: from Old French, from remparer, from re- + emparer to take possession of, from Old Provençal antparar, from Latin ante before + parāre to prepare
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for rampart
n.
"earthen elevation around a place for fortification," sometimes also including parapets, 1580s, from Middle French rempart, rampart, from remparer "to fortify," from re- "again" (see re-) + emparer "fortify, take possession of," from Old Provençal amparer, from Vulgar Latin *anteparare "prepare," properly "to make preparations beforehand," from Latin ante- "before" (see ante) + parare "prepare" (see pare). With excrescent -t in French, perhaps by influence of boulevart (see boulevard).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper