bastion
Americannoun
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Fortification. a projecting portion of a rampart or fortification that forms an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work.
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a fortified place.
- Synonyms:
- citadel, stronghold, bulwark, fort, fortress
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anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc..
a bastion of solitude; a bastion of democracy.
noun
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a projecting work in a fortification designed to permit fire to the flanks along the face of the wall
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any fortified place
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a thing or person regarded as upholding or defending an attitude, principle, etc
the last bastion of opposition
Other Word Forms
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; see baste 1) + -one augmentative suffix
Explanation
When the battle is getting long and the odds are getting longer, retreat to your bastion to regroup and prepare for the next round of fighting. A bastion is a stronghold or fortification that remains intact. French Independence Day, or Bastille Day (July 14), commemorates the storming in 1789 of the French king's prison/fort, the Bastille. Bastion and Bastille share the root bast, which means "build." Bastion can refer to any place to which one turns for safety; that can include not only buildings but also concepts, ideas, and even beliefs. The Church, for example, is a bastion of many religious beliefs.
Vocabulary lists containing bastion
Lord of the Flies
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A Raisin in the Sun
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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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.
Back in Burton, Al Wall and Emma Cole, brewery manager at Burton Bridge and Heritage Brewing Company, hope to preserve their history and be a "bastion of independence".
From BBC • May 25, 2026
From 1983 to 1995, High Performance was published by Astro Artz, renamed 18th Street Arts Center in 1990, and a bastion of performance art to this day.
From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026
An AFP correspondent heard explosions as the state-run National News Agency reported strikes on the area, a Hezbollah bastion that has largely emptied of residents since war erupted last month.
From Barron's • Apr. 3, 2026
“The intersection of these headwinds is resulting in an operating reality that is challenging the idea of CPG as a bastion of consistency,” the analysts say, “widening the gap between the most and least advantaged.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
A second memo, from a captain, seemed aimed at shaking up the tower personnel, who were no doubt a bastion of complacency.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
