a moat or defensive ditch in a fortification, usually filled with water.
any ditch, trench, or canal.
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Latin fossa fossa 1
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There was a road paved with white stone running on the outer brink of the fosse.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Beyond it was a deep fosse lost in soft shadow, but the grass upon its brink was green, as if it glowed still in memory of the sun that had gone.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
This fort contained thirty-three guns; had four bastions, and was defended by a dry fosse cut in the rocks.
From The Monarchs of the Main, Volume III (of 3) Or, Adventures of the Buccaneers by Thornbury, Walter
Joan, cheering on her brave forces, and calling on them to follow, seized a scaling-ladder, and ascended the enemy's breastworks, when she was pierced with an arrow in the shoulder, and fell into the fosse.
From Nature and Culture by Rice, Harvey
Swift in expedient, the stewards supplied the difficulty with quicklime, which was scattered with a lavish hand in the fosse, and shone like snow through the barrier of furze bushes on the take-off side.
From Further Experiences of an Irish R.M. by Ross, Martin
Fosse suggests, through the Emcee, that though the West’s relationship to queerness may bear the pattern of a sine wave, the Grande Human Cabaret can never metaphorically or spiritually close.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2025
When forced by Pozzo to dance, Mr. Thornton merely doffs his bowler hat rhythmically a few times in a funny nod to Bob Fosse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2025
The third was reported at Sainsbury's near Fosse Park at about 09:25 on Saturday.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2024
The oft-injured Fosse later claimed that lingering effects from his shoulder injury hastened his retirement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2024
As directed by Bob Fosse on Broadway, the dancing was raucous, and the themes—Pippin’s relationships with multiple women, his struggles with authority and the church—were overtly presented.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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.
