abatis

American  

[ab-uh-tee, -tis, uh-bat-ee, uh-bat-is] / ˈæb əˌti, -tɪs, əˈbæt i, əˈbæt ɪs /

noun

• abatis,
  plural
• abatises
  plural

1. an obstacle or barricade of trees with bent or sharpened branches directed toward an enemy.

2. a barbed wire entanglement used as an obstacle or barricade against an enemy.

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abatis British  

/ ˈæbətiː, ˈæbətɪs /

noun

1. a rampart of felled trees bound together placed with their branches outwards

2. a barbed-wire entanglement before a position

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• abatis
  plural
• abatises
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of abatis

1760–70; < French; Old French abateis < Vulgar Latin *abatteticius, derivative of Old French abattre ( see abate)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

abatis

The defenses consisted of two lines of abatis and a line of earthworks manned by Brig.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 17, 2021

Our men worked their way through the abatis of trees, took the outer line of rifle-pits, and bivouacked within the enemy's lines.

From Famous American Statesmen by Sarah Knowles Bolton

The Roxbury road ran through a narrow passage between two bastions of earth, surrounded with a heavy abatis and trous de loup.

From Cardigan by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

On the right hand, in particular, were romantic forest scenes; a wilderness of fallen trees, which the floods and storms had thrown and piled upon each other, like an abatis.

From Travels in the Interior of North America, Part I, (Being Chapters I-XV of the London Edition, 1843) Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, Volume XXII by Alexander Philipp Maximilian

"The impetuosity of the attack carried all before it, and within nine minutes from the time the abatis was passed the work was gained."

From Homes of American Statesmen With Anecdotical, Personal, and Descriptive Sketches by Various

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