abatis

American  

[ab-uh-tee, -tis, uh-bat-ee, uh-bat-is] / ˈæb əˌti, -tɪs, əˈbæt i, əˈbæt ɪs /

noun

• abatis,
  plural
• abatises
  plural

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.

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abatis British  

/ ˈæbətiː, ˈæbətɪs /

noun

1. a rampart of felled trees bound together placed with their branches outwards

2. a barbed-wire entanglement before a position

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• abatis
  plural
• abatises
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of abatis

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

abatis

The defenses consisted of two lines of abatis and a line of earthworks manned by Brig.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 17, 2021

From the fort the ground sloped in a heavy grade, from which the trees had been cut and used as abatis, and wire net-work was stretched between the stumps.

From From Manassas to Appomattox Memoirs of The Civil War in America by James Longstreet

The Roxbury road ran through a narrow passage between two bastions of earth, surrounded with a heavy abatis and trous de loup.

From Cardigan by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

An abatis should be protected from artillery fire, which is sometimes done by placing it in a shallow excavation with the earth thrown up in front of it.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various

Some weeks before, a French officer named Hugues had suggested the defence of this ridge by means of an abatis.

From Historic Handbook of the Northern Tour by Francis Parkman

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