barbette

¹ American  

[bahr-bet] / bɑrˈbɛt /

noun

1. (within a fortification) a platform or mound of earth from which guns may be fired over the parapet instead of through embrasures.

2. Navy. an armored cylinder for protecting the lower part of a turret on a warship.

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Barbette ² American  

[bahr-bet] / bɑrˈbɛt /

noun

1. a first name, form of Barbara.

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barbette British  

/ bɑːˈbɛt /

noun

1. (formerly) an earthen platform inside a parapet, from which heavy guns could fire over the top

2. an armoured cylinder below a turret on a warship that protects the revolving structure and foundation of the turret

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Etymology

Origin of barbette

1765–75; < French, equivalent to barbe beard + -ette -ette, probably from the general metaphorical use of barbe for something which protrudes or faces outward

Example Sentences

Last came the ample habit-coat of heavy cloth, topped by a linen rochet and a stiffly starched barbette of cambric .

From Time Magazine Archive

It was surrounded by low walls, on which were mounted some small guns en barbette.

From Memoirs of Service Afloat, During the War Between the States by Semmes, Raphael

Suddenly a shell struck the Ramillies forward in front of the barbette, and burst like the rending of a thundercloud.

From The Great War in England in 1897 by Le Queux, William

Major Anderson replied with his barbette guns from the fort.

From Robert Toombs Statesman, Speaker, Soldier, Sage by Stovall, Pleasant A.

She carries an obsolete "barbette" conning-tower—a six-foot affair with railed platform forward—and our warning beam plays on the top of it as a policeman's lantern flashes on the area sneak.

From With The Night Mail A Story of 2000 A.D. (Together with extracts from the comtemporary magazine in which it appeared) by Leyendecker, Frank X.