casemate

American  

[keys-meyt] / ˈkeɪsˌmeɪt /

noun

1. an armored enclosure for guns in a warship.

2. a vault or chamber, especially in a rampart, with embrasures for artillery.

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casemate British  

/ ˈkeɪsˌmeɪt /

noun

1. an armoured compartment in a ship or fortification in which guns are mounted

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Other Word Forms

• casemated adjective
• uncasemated adjective

Etymology

Origin of casemate

1565–75; < Middle French < Old Italian casamatta, alteration (by folk etymology) of Greek chásmata embrasures, literally, openings, plural of chásma chasm

Example Sentences

The three large sections of the Georgia's armored casemate, however, proved too heavy to raise without cutting them down into smaller pieces.

From US News • Aug. 16, 2015

In the middle was a trapezoid- shaped casemate with slats on each side for cannons.

From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan

The two officers made their way between the sliding carriage of the huge Krupp gun and the armoured wall of the casemate.

From The Fight for Constantinople A Story of the Gallipoli Peninsula by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

Again a moderate quantity of earth over a casemate increases the explosive effect of a shell by “tamping” it, that is by preventing the force of the explosion from being wasted in the open air.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various

He felt as much at home on that frail craft, the plating of which was a little thicker than cardboard, as he did behind a heavy-armoured casemate of the Hammerer.

From The Fight for Constantinople A Story of the Gallipoli Peninsula by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)