Castle

¹ American  

[kas-uhl, kah-suhl] / ˈkæs əl, ˈkɑ səl /

noun

1. Irene (Foote), 1893–1969, born in the U.S., and her husband and partner Vernon (Vernon Castle Blythe ), 1887–1918, born in England, U.S. ballroom dancers.

---

castle ² American  

[kas-uhl, kah-suhl] / ˈkæs əl, ˈkɑ səl /

noun

1. a fortified, usually walled residence, as of a prince or noble in feudal times.

   Synonyms:

   citadel, fortress

2. the chief and strongest part of the fortifications of a medieval city.

3. a strongly fortified, permanently garrisoned stronghold.

4. a large and stately residence, especially one, with high walls and towers, that imitates the form of a medieval castle.

   Synonyms:

   château, palace

5. any place providing security and privacy.

   It may be small, but my home is my castle.

6. Chess. the rook.

---

verb (used with object)

castled, castling

1. to place or enclose in or as in a castle.

2. Chess. to move (the king) in castling.

verb (used without object)

Chess.

castled, castling

1. to move the king two squares horizontally and bring the appropriate rook to the square the king has passed over.

2. (of the king) to be moved in this manner.

castle British  

/ ˈkɑːsəl /

noun

1. a fortified building or set of buildings, usually permanently garrisoned, as in medieval Europe

2. any fortified place or structure

3. a large magnificent house, esp when the present or former home of a nobleman or prince

4. the citadel and strongest part of the fortifications of a medieval town

5. chess another name for rook 2

---

verb

1. chess to move (the king) two squares laterally on the first rank and place the nearest rook on the square passed over by the king, either towards the king's side ( castling short ) or the queen's side ( castling long )

Other Word Forms

• castlelike adjective
• uncastled adjective

Etymology

Origin of castle

before 1000; Middle English, Old English castel < Latin castellum castellum

Example Sentences

The artefacts are said to include a sculpture of a saint's head stolen from Malbork castle, a royal residence in northern Poland.

From Barron's

Johnny Depp, making another appearance in this book, plays the title character, “born” with scissors for hands, who comes down from his castle to live with the kindhearted Boggs family.

From Salon

Damage was caused to a 500-year-old ruined castle after a visitor used part of a wall to make stepping stones across a large puddle.

From BBC

Wales talked about "storming the castle" in the build-up to the game, and it took just three minutes for them to breach the Scottish defence.

From BBC

Despite the stakes and the opponent, Lee does not appear intimidated — she sacrifices a pawn as Black on Move 4 and forces Krush to weather a nasty-looking kingside pawn storm of her castled king.

From Washington Times