bulwark
Americannoun
-
a wall of earth or other material built for defense; rampart.
-
any protection against external danger, injury, or annoyance.
The new dam was a bulwark against future floods.
-
any person or thing giving strong support or encouragement in time of need, danger, or doubt.
Religion was his bulwark.
-
Nautical. Usually bulwarks. a solid wall enclosing the perimeter of a weather or main deck for the protection of persons or objects on deck.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
a wall or similar structure used as a fortification; rampart
-
a person or thing acting as a defence against injury, annoyance, etc
-
(often plural) nautical a solid vertical fencelike structure along the outward sides of a deck
-
a breakwater or mole
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
bulwarksimple
-
bulwarkssimple
-
have bulwarkedperfect
-
has bulwarkedperfect
-
am bulwarkingprogressive
-
are bulwarkingprogressive
-
is bulwarkingprogressive
-
have been bulwarkingperfect progressive
-
has been bulwarkingperfect progressive
Past
-
bulwarkedsimple
-
had bulwarkedperfect
-
was bulwarkingprogressive
-
were bulwarkingprogressive
-
had been bulwarkingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bulwark
1375–1425; late Middle English bulwerk, probably < Middle Dutch bolwerc, equivalent to bol ( l ) e bole 1 + werk work (noun); cf. boulevard
Explanation
A bulwark is a wall built for protection or defense. If you and your pals build a secret fort for girls only, you might want to build a bulwark to surround it — with a "No Boys Allowed" sign posted prominently. A seawall that runs perpendicular to the shore is sometimes called a bulwark, because it defends the beach, not against invaders, but against beach erosion. Although the noun bulwark can refer to any fortified wall, it often specifically refers to an earthen wall, like a rampart. As a verb, bulwark means to fortify with a wall or to provide protection: "The volunteers used sandbags to bulwark the levee in an attempt to prevent the flooded river from overflowing its banks."
Vocabulary lists containing bulwark
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Pearl
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
This Week in Words: October 28 - November 2, 2018
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
Zinat-un-Nisa was a powerful political actor and an "extraordinarily influential and important political bulwark for her ageing and politically vulnerable" father toward the end of his life.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
In any event, the market recovered the next day, and the Fed’s image as a willing bulwark against market declines was born.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
Far from corrupting high culture, the middlebrow was once the bulwark that protected it.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026
We saw it repeatedly called a bulwark of liberty.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2026
Suddenly, Endurance rolled over onto the port side, and everything that wasn’t nailed down slid, slithered, and crashed against the bulwark.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
There will be raking, and pile-making, and paper sacks stuffed with leaves, arrayed along curbs like defensive bulwarks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
Most of my life, the American right has had lots of bulwarks against that kind of racism and antisemitism—and militant, anti-democratic strains.
From Slate ● May 18, 2024
Forests could also be potential bulwarks against climate change.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 10, 2024
So far, strong consumer spending has been one of the main bulwarks keeping the economy out of a recession.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 19, 2023
Flames of abnormal size were pursuing them, licking up the sides of the junk bulwarks, which were crumbling to soot at their touch.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
The valuations are bulwarked by new information from Cerebras’s pre-IPO filings with the SEC showing company revenue grew 76% between 2024 and 2025 to $510 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026
Presidential blue-ribbon panels bulwarked the Social Security program in 1983 and overhauled NASA’s space shuttle program after the 1986 Challenger disaster.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 24, 2023
Even Einstein, the prototypical loner, was bulwarked by a vast correspondence of arguing and discussion.
From New York Times ● Oct. 31, 2016
He didn't say that the British way is better, cleaner, more constitutionally bulwarked – because, actually, it isn't.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 28, 2010
Tommy himself had prudently departed, bulwarked by his new comrades.
From King Spruce, A Novel by Day, Holman
In addition to bulwarking security, many are bunkering from reporters who have descended on a normally sleepy community.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 9, 2023
On the DDoS front, the companies involved are doubtless bolstering their defenses, but bulwarking for brute force denial of service attacks is an ongoing process, and there’s no panacea.
From Time ● Aug. 25, 2014
With unemployment severe, but less so than in other Great Powers, and with French thrift bulwarking the private citizen for some time to come.
From Time Magazine Archive
The State Department insisted gamely that Nixon was actually bulwarking Rogers' political initiative.
From Time Magazine Archive
His inquiries had been bent towards so disposing the financial operations, so bulwarking the mining industry by sagacious designs, that, when the worst came, they all would be able to weather the storm.
From The Judgment House by Parker, Gilbert
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.
