(within a fortification) a platform or mound of earth from which guns may be fired over the parapet instead of through embrasures.
Navy. an armored cylinder for protecting the lower part of a turret on a warship.
(formerly) an earthen platform inside a parapet, from which heavy guns could fire over the top
an armoured cylinder below a turret on a warship that protects the revolving structure and foundation of the turret
1765–75; < French, equivalent to barbe beard + -ette -ette, probably from the general metaphorical use of barbe for something which protrudes or faces outward
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Last came the ample habit-coat of heavy cloth, topped by a linen rochet and a stiffly starched barbette of cambric .
From Time Magazine Archive
The Mikasa opened the ball by firing a sighting shot from one of the 12-inch guns in her fore barbette, and at the same moment the Russian ships were seen to be getting under way.
From Under the Ensign of the Rising Sun A Story of the Russo-Japanese War by Lumley, Savile
Inside this tube, which revolves with the gun platform, are "lifts," which hoist the shells up to the barbette.
From The Childrens' Story of the War, Volume 2 (of 10) From the Battle of Mons to the Fall of Antwerp. by Parrott, James Edward
She carries an obsolete "barbette" conning-tower—a six-foot affair with railed platform forward—and our warning beam plays on the top of it as a policeman's lantern flashes on the area sneak.
From With The Night Mail A Story of 2000 A.D. (Together with extracts from the comtemporary magazine in which it appeared) by Leyendecker, Frank X.
A shell from the Russian flagship had struck under her stern barbette, but, failing to penetrate the armour, glanced off into the sea.
From The Great War in England in 1897 by Le Queux, William
Hunt died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles from complications of Parkinson’s disease, said his wife, Barbette Hunt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2020
“I don’t think he missed one summer,” said Barbette, who worked at the festival as an apprentice.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2020
“He got involved with a whole bunch of really awesome people out here who were doing exciting TV work,” remembered Barbette, his wife of 28 years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2020
Barbette Tweed's Cordelia is appropriately sweet and good; Patricia Elliott as Regan and Marilyn Lightstone as Goneril are properly serpentine.
From Time Magazine Archive
All we have to do is to get her off, bend on a sail or two, and head her for Bonacca or Barbette.
From Golden Days for Boys and Girls Volume XIII, No. 51: November 12, 1892 by Elverson, James
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.
