abri

American  

[uh-bree, a-bree] / əˈbri, aˈbri /

noun

• abris
  plural

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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abri British  

/ æˈbriː /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• abris
  plural

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

abri abris

Hind, a local resident, said the frequent water outages forced her and her family to rely solely on their reserves of abri - a corn-based drink usually consumed during Ramadan - to quench their thirst.

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2023

Instead, the raw rations were divided among the sections, and the men cooked them as best they could in their mess kits over the little stoves that were in each abri.

From Battery E in France 149th Field Artillery, Rainbow (42nd) Division by Frederic R. Kilner

"To the first available abri," I cried at her, under the sky's reckless tumult.

From The Book of Susan A Novel by Lee Wilson Dodd

All round red clay, out of which the abri was excavated.

From One Man's Initiation—1917 by John Dos Passos

The abri to which we retired was about twenty-five feet long and eight feet wide, and had a door at either end.

From A Volunteer Poilu by Henry Beston

Elaborate abris, benches and tables woven of boughs about a cleared “Appelplatz,” and rifles, overcoats and other equipment spoke of the occupation of the same woods by the Germans not long before.

From Battery E in France 149th Field Artillery, Rainbow (42nd) Division by Frederic R. Kilner

Captain Robbins ordered everyone into the abris till the shelling ceased.

From Battery E in France 149th Field Artillery, Rainbow (42nd) Division by Frederic R. Kilner

And in like manner the primeval man would not exchange his abris for a structural dwelling unless constrained so to do.

From Castles and Cave Dwellings of Europe by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould

I've been in some twenty-five or thirty air-raids in four or five cities of France, and I have never yet seen many Americans who took to the "abris."

From Soldier Silhouettes on our Front by William L. (William Le Roy) Stidger

Next beyond the abris was the latrine from which a puff of wind brought now and then a nauseous stench.

From One Man's Initiation—1917 by John Dos Passos