counterscarp
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of counterscarp
1565–75; counter- + scarp ( def. ) (modeled on Italian contrascarpa ); replacing counterscarfe, with scarfe obsolete variant of scarp ( def. )
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.
At first it was customary, after the introduction of the counterscarp, to leave a narrow space on the top of it, behind the glacis, for a patrol path.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various
The Natchez built large dikes or ditches, and upon the counterscarp piled up huge ramparts, which they made almost impregnable, by having one side flanked by the slope of a hill, surrounded by precipices.
From The Progress of Ethnology An Account of Recent Archaeological, Philological and Geographical Researches in Various Parts of the Globe by John Russell Bartlett
The assailants, speedily intrenching themselves behind a parapet formed of gabions, fascines, and wool-sacks, established a permanent lodgement on the counterscarp.
From History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, Vols. 1 and 2 by William Hickling Prescott
There is a counterscarp to the faces, but no covered way.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various
The fort with its dwelling casemates is surrounded by a deep ditch flanked by counterscarp galleries.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various
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.
