berm

American  

[burm] / bɜrm /

noun

1. Fortification. Also berme. a horizontal surface between the exterior slope of a rampart and the moat.

2. Also called bench. any level strip of ground at the summit or sides, or along the base, of a slope.

3. Also called backshore, beach berm. a nearly flat back portion of a beach, formed of material deposited by the action of the waves.

4. Chiefly Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. the bank of a canal or the shoulder of a road.

5. Chiefly Alaska. a mound of snow or dirt, as formed when clearing land.

6. a bank of earth placed against an exterior wall or walls of a house or other building as protection against extremes of temperature.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cover or protect with a berm.

   The side walls were bermed to a height of three feet.

berm British  

/ bɜːm /

noun

1. a narrow path or ledge at the edge of a slope, road, or canal

2. the grass verge of a suburban street, usually kept mown

3. fortifications a narrow path or ledge between a moat and a rampart

4. military a man-made ridge of sand, designed as an obstacle to tanks, which, in crossing it, have to expose their vulnerable underparts

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berm Scientific  

/ bûrm /

1. A nearly horizontal or landward-sloping portion of a beach formed by the deposition of sediment by storm waves. A beach may have no berm at all, or it may have more than one berm.

2. A narrow man-made ledge or shelf, as along the top or bottom of a slope.

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Etymology

Origin of berm

1720–30; < French berme < Dutch berm; akin to brim ¹

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Explanation

A berm is a raised strip of ground that runs along the side of a road or a body of water. You might stand on the berm by a lake with your fishing pole as you bait your hook. A berm is any stretch of grass or land that forms a kind of shelf above or along a river, train tracks, or highway. Some berms are a natural feature of the landscape, while others are man made. A berm can form a barrier between two spaces, and when the word is used in a military context it means a defensive wall of sorts. It comes from an Old Dutch root, baerm, "edge of a dike."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

berm

But in an ironic twist, part of the parking lot was underwater, a tractor had raised a berm to hold back the ocean, and just to the south, homes were being thrashed by waves.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

They fell silent as an Israeli armored vehicle rumbled past, its antenna swinging above the berm blocking the street.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 24, 2025

Satellite images show that troops started to construct a massive berm - a raised sand barrier - around the perimeter of el-Fasher, sealing off access routes and blocking aid.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025

They constructed a 35-mile earthen berm around the city in an attempt to encircle its one million residents.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025

There was a knee-high berm of snow directly in front of him and then a trail where patrolling guards had tramped it down.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

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Related Words

• boundary
• brink
• corner
• end
• fringe
• line
• lip
• margin
• mouth
• outskirt
• perimeter
• rim
• shore
• threshold
• verge

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