bastion

American  

[bas-chuhn, -tee-uhn] / ˈbæs tʃən, -ti ən /

noun

1. Fortification. a projecting portion of a rampart or fortification that forms an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work.

2. a fortified place.

   Synonyms:

   citadel, stronghold, bulwark, fort, fortress

3. anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc..

   a bastion of solitude; a bastion of democracy.

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bastion British  

/ ˈbæstɪən /

noun

1. a projecting work in a fortification designed to permit fire to the flanks along the face of the wall

2. any fortified place

3. a thing or person regarded as upholding or defending an attitude, principle, etc

   the last bastion of opposition

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Other Word Forms

• bastionary adjective
• bastioned adjective

Etymology

Origin of bastion

1590–1600; < Middle French < Italian bastione, equivalent to Upper Italian bastí ( a ) bastion, originally, fortified, built (cognate with Italian bastita, past participle of bastire to build < Germanic; baste ¹ ) + -one augmentative suffix

Example Sentences

Discovery, it is simultaneously tackling the last bastion where traditional TV has an edge over streamers: sports and live events.

From The Wall Street Journal

As a decentralized system whose channels and stations exist within the communities they serve, public media represents a last bastion of local and regional programming.

From Los Angeles Times

In Israel’s early days, Ben-Gurion’s Mapai, the bastion of Labor Zionism, “was a party with its own state,” Mr. Segal observes.

From The Wall Street Journal

In a corner of the bottom tier of the MCG, thousands waved their flags and sang their songs, creating a party atmosphere in a bastion of Australian sport.

From BBC

These new technologies offered them a bastion of free speech and a global platform.

From Salon

Related Words

• bulwark
• citadel
• fortress
• mainstay
• stronghold