abatis

[ ab-uh-tee, -tis, uh-bat-ee, uh-bat-is ]

noun

, plural ab·a·tis [ab, -, uh, -teez, uh, -, bat, -eez], ab·a·tis·es [ab, -, uh, -tis-iz, uh, -, bat, -, uh, -siz].

1. an obstacle or barricade of trees with bent or sharpened branches directed toward an enemy.
2. a barbed wire entanglement used as an obstacle or barricade against an enemy.

abatis

/ ˈæbətɪs; ˈæbətiː /

noun

1. a rampart of felled trees bound together placed with their branches outwards
2. a barbed-wire entanglement before a position

Word History and Origins

Origin of abatis¹

1760–70; < French; Old French abateis < Vulgar Latin *abatteticius, derivative of Old French abattre ( abate )

Word History and Origins

Origin of abatis¹

C18: from French, from abattre to fell

Example Sentences

Just in front of the abatis there was open ground for perhaps two hundred yards.

From Project Gutenberg

One man in the trench was killed by this shot, and the others ran back to the abatis.

From Project Gutenberg

The axemen rushed across the open and soon the thuds of their axes told of the cutting away of the abatis.

From Project Gutenberg

Note the abatis to the right of the picture, the wagons moving and ready to move in the background, and the artillery on the left.

From Project Gutenberg

Abatis, beswept by those ten Brummers and other Batteries, till bullet and bayonet can act on it, speedily gives way.

From Project Gutenberg