Bastille Day

American

noun

July 14, a national holiday of the French republic, commemorating the fall of the Bastille in 1789.

Bastille Day British

noun

(in France) an annual holiday on July 14, commemorating the fall of the Bastille

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Macron notably made Trump the guest of Bastille Day celebrations in 2017.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

On Monday, the race takes in eight categorised climbs on Bastille Day as it travels 165.3km from Ennezat to Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy in the Massif Central.

From BBC • Jul. 13, 2025

The lore has it that Trump saw the Bastille Day celebration in France in 2017 and has been agitating for one ever since.

From Salon • May 28, 2025

The first aerial sorties went up at midnight on Bastille Day, July 14.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 15, 2024

I didn't know about the rest of the class, but when Bastille Day eventually rolled around, I planned to stay home and clean my oven.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023