Belleau Wood

American

[bel-oh, be-loh] / ˈbɛl oʊ, bɛˈloʊ /

noun

a forest in N France, NW of Château-Thierry: a memorial to the U.S. Marines who won a battle there 1918.

Belleau Wood British

/ bɛlo, ˈbɛləʊ /

noun

a forest in N France: site of a battle (1918) in which the US Marines halted a German advance on Paris

"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

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.

He called the 1,800 marines killed during the bloody Battle of Belleau Wood in World War I “suckers” for dying in action.

From Salon • May 27, 2024

The 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, with a legacy from Belleau Wood to Guadalcanal to Fallujah, suffered the most casualties of any Marine unit in Afghanistan.

From Washington Times • Nov. 13, 2019

Straight upright, in our Secret Service black, Earpieces, pistols, shades, we dragged to France, Till on our minibars we turned our backs, And towards the Belleau Wood aimed our advance.

From Slate • Nov. 10, 2018

The Battle of Belleau Wood was a critical conflict in the war and a pivotal encounter in Marine Corps history.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 10, 2018

“We moved into the edge of Belleau Wood, and there facing us from the hill opposite, not more than a few hundred yards away, were the German positions,” Marine sergeant Melvin Krulewitch recalled.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023