(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
Almost at the outset he had carelessly taken a position that brought him within the danger arc of the blast from his own big barbette guns.
From Famous Sea Fights From Salamis to Tsu-Shima by Hale, John Richard
Each of these ships had a barbette armed with a 10-inch gun fore and aft.
From Famous Sea Fights From Salamis to Tsu-Shima by Hale, John Richard
A barbette battery on the cliffs of the Jersey shore, left of the ferry, fired down upon the frigate, but with little effect.
From The Student's Life of Washington; Condensed from the Larger Work of Washington Irving For Young Persons and for the Use of Schools by Irving, Washington
He had brought his brother, a mere boy, on board for a holiday, and had him beside him in the barbette.
From Famous Sea Fights From Salamis to Tsu-Shima by Hale, John Richard
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.
