bastion
Americannoun
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Fortification. a projecting portion of a rampart or fortification that forms an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work.
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a fortified place.
- Synonyms:
- citadel, stronghold, bulwark, fort, fortress
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anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc..
a bastion of solitude; a bastion of democracy.
noun
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a projecting work in a fortification designed to permit fire to the flanks along the face of the wall
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any fortified place
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a thing or person regarded as upholding or defending an attitude, principle, etc
the last bastion of opposition
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of bastion
1590–1600; < Middle French < Italian bastione, equivalent to Upper Italian bastí ( a ) bastion, originally, fortified, built (cognate with Italian bastita, past participle of bastire to build < Germanic; see baste 1) + -one augmentative suffix
Explanation
When the battle is getting long and the odds are getting longer, retreat to your bastion to regroup and prepare for the next round of fighting. A bastion is a stronghold or fortification that remains intact. French Independence Day, or Bastille Day (July 14), commemorates the storming in 1789 of the French king's prison/fort, the Bastille. Bastion and Bastille share the root bast, which means "build." Bastion can refer to any place to which one turns for safety; that can include not only buildings but also concepts, ideas, and even beliefs. The Church, for example, is a bastion of many religious beliefs.
Vocabulary lists containing bastion
Lord of the Flies
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A Raisin in the Sun
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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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.
The Ministry of Defence, which is unveiling elements of Atlantic Bastion on Monday, said in a statement that the programme was "in direct response to the resurgence in Russian submarine and underwater activity".
From BBC • Dec. 7, 2025
This story has corrected the last name of Delta CEO to Ed Bastian, not Bastion.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 1, 2024
Activists have been highly suspicious of Bastion Security, a company founded by a former apartheid-era soldier in South Africa, which the Eswatini government has hired to provide security training for law enforcement.
From New York Times • Jan. 28, 2023
In addition to the missile launches from nuclear-powered submarines, Russia's "Bastion" coastal missile system also fired missiles at sea-based targets at a distance of 300 kilometres from the Chukchi peninsula - Russia's easternmost territory.
From Reuters • Sep. 16, 2022
Again her fingers find the outer ramparts, the Bastion de la Hollande, the little staircase leading down.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
