bulwark

[bool-werk, -wawrk, buhl-]

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.

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

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bulwark ON THESAURUS.COM

3. support, buttress, mainstay.

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

Related Words for bulwark

mainstay, bastion, fortress, redoubt, stronghold, parapet, barrier, protection, partition, buffet, citadel, guard, defense, embankment, rampart, security, safeguard, buttress, fort, outwork

Examples from the Web for bulwark

Contemporary Examples of 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
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
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
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
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

Historical Examples of bulwark

"I prythee that you will pardon me," said the knight, clutching his way along the bulwark.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
We told these chaps we were deserters from the Bulwark, 74, and begged them to help us along.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
Hector, the bulwark of Troy, had fallen, and the ruin of the city was at hand.
Old Greek Folk Stories Told Anew
Josephine Preston Peabody
I returned on deck, where, leaning on the bulwark, I scanned the distance.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
When he had succeeded, he walked over to where the girl leaned on the bulwark.
One Day's Courtship
Robert Barr

British Dictionary definitions for bulwark

bulwark

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

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.