bastille
(initial capital letter) a fortress in Paris, used as a prison, built in the 14th century and destroyed July 14, 1789.
any prison or jail, especially one conducted in a tyrannical way.
a fortified tower, as of a castle; a small fortress; citadel.
Origin of bastille
1- Also bas·tile [ba-steel]. /bæˈstil/.
Words Nearby bastille
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use bastille in a sentence
With a fine (if unnoticed) stroke of irony, the bill was signed into law on bastille Day, July 4.
Snowden Deserves the Medal of Freedom, Not Prosecution | Jay Parini | June 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNeither the bastille nor the Beatles could inspire us to overhaul life itself.
The bloody effervescence of the bastille gave way to Robespierre and then Napoleon; Stalin crushed Trotsky.
Witness a brown cardboard sign held high on Sunday night at the bastille.
Anyone hoping to learn what bastille Day is all about would do well to start here.
Father Griffet, a Jesuit, has communicated to the public the journal of the bastille, which certifies the dates.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)As for his age, he himself told the apothecary of the bastille, a little before his death, that he believed he was about sixty.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)For him the world, set spinning on a mad career when the bastille fell, was moving too slowly again.
The Light That Lures | Percy BrebnerWhen he left the bastille, he plotted with his willing mistress his revenge upon her father.
In 1698, M. de Saint Mars was made governor of the bastille.
Historical Tales, Vol. 6 (of 15) | Charles Morris
British Dictionary definitions for Bastille
/ (bæˈstiːl, French bastij) /
a fortress in Paris, built in the 14th century: a prison until its destruction in 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution
Origin of Bastille
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for Bastille
[ (ba-steel) ]
A prison in Paris where many political and other offenders were held and tortured until the time of the French Revolution. It was attacked by workers on July 14, 1789, during the revolution; the prisoners were released, and the building was later demolished.
Notes for Bastille
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Browse