bastion

[ bas-chuhn, -tee-uhn ]

/ ˈbæs tʃən, -ti ən /

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See synonyms for: bastion / bastioned on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

a fortified place.

anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc.: a bastion of solitude; a bastion of democracy.

OTHER WORDS FOR bastion

2 fortress, fort, bulwark, stronghold, citadel.

See synonyms for bastion on Thesaurus.com

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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 baste¹) + -one augmentative suffix

OTHER WORDS FROM bastion

bas·tion·ar·y

[bas-chuh-ner-ee], /ˈbæs tʃəˌnɛr i/, adjectivebastioned, adjective

Words nearby bastion

bastille, Bastille Day, bastinade, bastinado, basting, bastion, bastnaesite, Bastogne, Bastrop, Basuto, Basutoland

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bastion in a sentence

Since launching in 2018, Parler’s leaders have framed the social network as one of the last bastions of free speech online, building a fan base of annoyed conservatives who argue they had been silenced everywhere else.
Conservatives grumbling about censorship say they’re flocking to Parler. They told us so on Twitter.|Drew Harwell, Rachel Lerman|November 23, 2020|Washington Post
Until very recently, the Atlanta area wasn’t a liberal bastion.
How Georgia Turned Blue|Perry Bacon Jr. (perry.bacon@fivethirtyeight.com)|November 18, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
This week Bentley, that bastion of British luxury, became the latest OEM to set a date for that happening—the year 2030.
Bentley will ditch internal combustion engines by 2030|Jonathan M. Gitlin|November 6, 2020|Ars Technica
Overnight, they morphed from bastions of leisure into pariahs of the sea, floating hotspots crammed with tourists, sick and well.
Inside the Fall of the CDC|by James Bandler, Patricia Callahan, Sebastian Rotella and Kirsten Berg|October 15, 2020|ProPublica

The capital city, a liberal bastion, was so inundated by September that it had to cut off applications at 6,000.
Wisconsin election officials go from famine to feast with a swell of poll workers|Dan Simmons|October 8, 2020|Washington Post
Are the Brogpas of Kashmir in India really the last bastion of purebred Aryans?
The Himalayas’ Hidden Aryans|Nina Strochlic|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The tweets linking to the National Review, that bastion of LGBT equality.
How Canadian Oilmen Pinkwash the Keystone Pipeline|Jay Michaelson|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But that was not to be, and Kansas will continue as a Republican bastion for the foreseeable future.
Kansas Republicans Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback Lifted by Rising Tide|Ben Jacobs|November 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Even in New York City, a place that touts itself as a progressive bastion, Sikhs have suffered a string of hate crimes.
New York’s Sikhs Need Their Own Al Sharpton|Dean Obeidallah|August 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Until that equation tips, individual Republicans may break ranks on gay rights, but the party remains a countercultural bastion.
Red America’s Anti-Gay Backlash|Jonathan Rauch|June 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It showed like a hollow bastion, filled with insurgent fire, flung up to heaven.
The Creators|May Sinclair
The principal bas-relief is a huge square panel, graven on the face of a rock bastion which immediately overhangs the stream.
The Cradle of Mankind|W.A. Wigram
You thought yourself well out of it, and were stopped by a bastion.
Stories in Light and Shadow|Bret Harte
The massive wall which forms a corner of the green yard is a bastion of the city wall in the time of Edward IV.
Milton's England|Lucia Ames Mead
For several hours they held a bastion, the possession of which was deemed highly important by both Turks and Christians.
Female Warriors, Vol. I (of 2)|Ellen C. Clayton

British Dictionary definitions for bastion

bastion

/ (ˈbæstɪən) /

noun

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

any fortified place

a thing or person regarded as upholding or defending an attitude, principle, etcthe last bastion of opposition

Word Origin for bastion

C16: from French, from earlier bastillon bastion, from bastille 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

bastion

OTHER WORDS FOR bastion

Origin of bastion

OTHER WORDS FROM bastion

Words nearby bastion

Words related to bastion

How to use bastion in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bastion

Word Origin for bastion