cheval-de-frise
Americannoun
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chevaux-de-frise
plural
noun
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a portable barrier of spikes, sword blades, etc, used to obstruct the passage of cavalry
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a row of spikes or broken glass set as an obstacle on top of a wall
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cheval-de-frise
1680–90; < French; literally, horse of Friesland, so called because first used by Frisians
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
During the floods, however, this cheval-de-frise of boulders must all be under water, and probably impassable.
From Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 2 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
At South-west Harbor the visitor is usually desirous of inspecting the sea-wall, or cheval-de-frise of shattered rock, that skirts the shore less than three miles distant from the steamboat landing.
From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Samuel Adams Drake
There is a low wall there, and a cheval-de-frise on the top of it.
From With Frederick the Great A Story of the Seven Years' War by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
A high wall inclosed it, and on the top of this wall ran a miniature cheval-de-frise of iron.
From The Grey Cloak by Thomas Mitchell Peirce
When, however, the latter reached the great cheval-de-frise, formed by felled trees, in front of the intrenchments, they could make no further progress, so heavy was the fire maintained by the enemy.
From Won By the Sword : a tale of the Thirty Years' War by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
On the right is a recessed window, through which the top of an old grey wall with chevaux-de-frise and foliage above can be seen.
From The Brass Bottle A Farcical Fantastic Play in Four Acts by F. Anstey
It was hoped, by the co-operation of these opposite forts and the chevaux-de-frise, to command the Hudson, and prevent the passing and repassing of hostile ships.
From The Student's Life of Washington; Condensed from the Larger Work of Washington Irving For Young Persons and for the Use of Schools by Washington Irving
The men in the pass twisted the pine-boughs and snagged the trunks to form a rough chevaux-de-frise.
From The Plowshare and the Sword A Tale of Old Quebec by John Trevena
Arrived here, the fugitives must ascend the counterscarp, and cross the chevaux-de-frise with which it was furnished.
From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Samuel Adams Drake
He who had wandered far and wide; who had tracked Comanches on the war-path; had struck his sword against a chevaux-de-frise of Mexican bayonets, to be mocked after such fantastic fashion, and by such fellows!
From The Child Wife by Mayne Reid
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
