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abri

[uh-bree; French a-bree]
noun, plural a·bris [uh-breez; French a-bree] /əˈbriz; French aˈbri/.
  1. a shelter, especially a dugout.
  2. Archaeology. a rock shelter formed by the overhang of a cliff and often containing prehistoric occupation deposits.
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Origin of abri

< French, Old French, noun derivative of abrier (now obsolete or dial.) to shelter, shield, screen < Late Latin aprīcāre to warm in the sun (hence, to shield from wind, cold, etc.), verbal derivative of Latin aprīcus sunny, warmed by the sunshine; Old French b for v perhaps < Old Provençal abriar, or by construal of a- as prefix
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for abri

Historical Examples

  • In one abri that night, a shelter in a great station, nearly a hundred died.

    Huts in Hell

    Daniel A. Poling

  • The poste itself is an abri, a bomb-proof dug-out in the ground.

  • Outside of this, again, may be an abri or shelter of overhanging rock.

    Men of the Old Stone Age

    Henry Fairfield Osborn

  • It may be suggested that the mysterious bourjo was an abri of pere Jo or Jupiter.

    Archaic England

    Harold Bayley

  • Abri la boca para decir algo en consonancia con tan maravilloso pensamiento; pero slo exhal un suspiro.

    Doa Perfecta

    Benito Prez Galds

British Dictionary definitions for abri

abri

noun
  1. a shelter or place of refuge, esp in wartime
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Word Origin

French, from Latin apricum an open place
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012