bulwark

[ bool-werk, -wawrk, buhl- ]

/ ˈbʊl wərk, -wɔrk, ˈbʌl- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bulwark ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a wall of earth or other material built for defense; rampart.

any protection against external danger, injury, or annoyance: The new dam was a bulwark against future floods.

any person or thing giving strong support or encouragement in time of need, danger, or doubt: Religion was his bulwark.

Usually bulwarks. Nautical. a solid wall enclosing the perimeter of a weather or main deck for the protection of persons or objects on deck.

verb (used with object)

to fortify or protect with a bulwark; secure by or as if by a fortification.

Nearby words

Origin of bulwark

1375–1425; late Middle English bulwerk, probably < Middle Dutch bolwerc, equivalent to bol(l)e bole¹ + werk work (noun); cf. boulevard

SYNONYMS FOR bulwark

3. support, buttress, mainstay.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bulwark ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bulwark

The German Panzers fought with suicidal ferocity, storming the hill until it was rimmed with a bulwark of bodies.
The Deadly Trap Behind D-Day’s Beaches|Clive Irving|June 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
First, however weak the court may be as a bulwark against majoritarian tyranny, it is better than no bulwark at all.
Will This Man Make Gay Marriage Legal Everywhere?|Stuart Taylor, Jr.|February 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
What we most wanted in a policy was a bulwark against financial devastation from a catastrophic illness.
Obamacare May Be Dangerous to Your Health|Richard Woodward|November 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST
When a warrior is gone, that will be his best and only bulwark.
Seamus Heaney, 1939-2013: Accessible, Yes, and Beautiful|Jimmy So|August 30, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Iran and Hezbollah, both Shiite, see Assad as a bulwark against Sunni influence.
Syria’s Bashar Al-Assad is Winning|Mike Giglio|May 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
A slight figure could be seen immediately above the bulwark on the land side.
Lochinvar|S. R. Crockett
One bulwark of their faith, as they had been often told, passive obedience, was being swept away.
The Anglo-French Entente in the Seventeenth Century|Charles Bastide
They have been the bulwark of Christendom against the unspeakable Turk and his religion.
Birdseye Views of Far Lands|James T. Nichols
The devil has a great advantage against us, inasmuch as he has a strong bastion and bulwark against us in our own flesh and blood.
Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources|James Wood
A portion yet remained fixed on the rock, and now and then we could still see the group crouching behind the bulwark.
Studies in the Art of Rat-catching|H. C. Barkley

British Dictionary definitions for bulwark

bulwark

/ (ˈbʊlwək) /

noun

a wall or similar structure used as a fortification; rampart

a person or thing acting as a defence against injury, annoyance, etc

(often plural) nautical a solid vertical fencelike structure along the outward sides of a deck

a breakwater or mole

verb

(tr) to defend or fortify with or as if with a bulwark

Word Origin for bulwark

C15: via Dutch from Middle High German bolwerk, from bol plank, bole 1 + werk work

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

Word Origin and History for bulwark

bulwark

early 15c., from Middle Dutch bulwerke or Middle High German bolwerc, probably from bole "plank, tree trunk" (from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell;" see bole) + werc "work" (see work (n.)). Figurative sense is from 1570s.

bulwark

noun

verb (used with object)

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of bulwark

Examples from the Web for bulwark

bulwark

noun

verb

Word Origin for bulwark

bulwark