blockhouse
Americannoun
plural
blockhouses-
Military. a fortified structure with ports or loopholes through which defenders may direct gunfire.
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Also called garrison house. (formerly) a building, usually of hewn timber and with a projecting upper story, having loopholes for musketry.
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a house built of squared logs.
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Rocketry. a structure near a launching site for rockets, generally made of heavily reinforced concrete, for housing and protecting personnel, electronic controls, and auxiliary apparatus before and during launching operations.
noun
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(formerly) a wooden fortification with ports or loopholes for defensive fire, observation, etc
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a concrete structure strengthened to give protection against enemy fire, with apertures to allow defensive gunfire
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a building constructed of logs or squared timber
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a reinforced concrete building close to a rocket-launching site for protecting personnel and equipment during launching
Etymology
Origin of blockhouse
1505–15; < Middle Dutch blochuus, equivalent to bloc block + huus house
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.
Pte Malcolm, a stretcher bearer, was found when unidentified remains were recovered from a shell hole outside a German blockhouse in Fusilier Wood, near Klein-Zillebeke, Belgium.
From BBC • May 10, 2023
Others are posing on the porch of an officer’s house and in front of the blockhouse, which are still on the property.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 25, 2023
She and Bhutto bought a one-bedroom unit at City View Condos, a brick blockhouse in the tumbledown Barry Farm area of Southeast D.C.
From Washington Post • Sep. 4, 2019
Behind the thick walls were cases of ammunition, Behind the blockhouse the gun crew had tunneled into the side of the hill and installed living quarters.
From Fox News • Jun. 3, 2019
Dad entered the blockhouse, and I directed him to the firing panel after checking the connections.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
