blockhouse

American  

[blok-hous] / ˈblɒkˌhaʊs /

noun

blockhouses plural

1. Military. a fortified structure with ports or loopholes through which defenders may direct gunfire.

2. Also called garrison house.  (formerly) a building, usually of hewn timber and with a projecting upper story, having loopholes for musketry.

3. a house built of squared logs.

4. 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.

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blockhouse British  

/ ˈblɒkˌhaʊs /

noun

1. (formerly) a wooden fortification with ports or loopholes for defensive fire, observation, etc

2. a concrete structure strengthened to give protection against enemy fire, with apertures to allow defensive gunfire

3. a building constructed of logs or squared timber

4. a reinforced concrete building close to a rocket-launching site for protecting personnel and equipment during launching

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Etymology

Origin of blockhouse

1505–15; < Middle Dutch blochuus, equivalent to bloc block + huus house

Example Sentences

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

This blockhouse was about 15 feet square with one opening through which was poked the snout of an 88-mm. gun.

From Fox News • Jun. 3, 2019

By one p.m. they were strapped into their couches, familiar from hours spent in vacuum-chamber tests in Houston, and Slayton left for the blockhouse, where he would monitor the test.

From Salon • Mar. 24, 2019

I checked the connections in the blockhouse and tried again.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

Related Words

• barricade
• citadel
• fortress
• reinforcement