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/.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use bastille in a sentence
On the 6th and 7th the remaining bastilles on the south bank of the Loire were carried by storm.
Female Warriors, Vol. I (of 2) | Ellen C. ClaytonAs Paris had taken her bastille, it remained for the towns and country districts to take theirs—all the Bastilles of feudalism.
When this was done the main body of the French would attack the weakened bastilles on the south bank and overcome them.
Joan of Arc | Lucy Foster MadisonJoan now gave instructions that no aid should reach this portion of the English defences from the adjacent bastilles.
Joan of Arc | Ronald Sutherland GowerHave you poor's-houses—new Bastilles—large enough to contain them?
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.
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