drawbridge

American  

[draw-brij] / ˈdrɔˌbrɪdʒ /

noun

• drawbridges
  plural

1. a bridge of which the whole or a section may be drawn up, let down, or drawn aside, to prevent access or to leave a passage open for boats, barges, etc.

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drawbridge British  

/ ˈdrɔːˌbrɪdʒ /

noun

1. a bridge that may be raised to prevent access or to enable vessels to pass

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• drawbridges
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of drawbridge

First recorded in 1300–50, drawbridge is from the Middle English word drawebrigge. See draw, bridge ¹

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Explanation

In olden times, if you lived in a castle, you might have a drawbridge that could be raised and lowered depending on whether or not you wanted to let people cross your moat. A drawbridge gets its name from the fact that it could be "drawn up," or raised, to keep intruders or unwanted visitors away from a tower or castle. The typical medieval drawbridge spanned a deep, wide moat (a trench filled with water). This moveable wooden bridge was usually attached to a guarded gatehouse and could be raised and lowered fairly easily with ropes or chains.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

drawbridge drawbridges

Authorities from Washington to Stockholm are pulling up the drawbridge to immigrants, wielding deportation orders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

Ants crossed a small Lego drawbridge onto a test surface, which consisted of an A4 sheet placed over acrylic.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 18, 2026

Those ties were broken when he walked away and pulled up the drawbridge behind him.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 25, 2026

It was originally designed to be a sort of drawbridge, which require ropes or chains to pull up the road.

From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2024

They were like medieval kings and queens in their moated castles, wanting to lift the drawbridge and shut out every possible threat.

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Both clubs criticised each other over security arrangements and safety of the small number of travelling fans and inevitably drawbridges were pulled up completely.

From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2025

The outage has also affected part of Alameda, causing its three drawbridges to stop working and disrupting traffic access to the island, CBS Bay Area reported.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2023

Property values in St. Bernard are lower in part because the parish is harder to get to, cut off from most of the city by drawbridges and railroad crossings.

From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2022

In the Netherlands, workers sprayed water on mechanical drawbridges over Amsterdam’s canals to prevent the metal in them from expanding, according to The Associated Press.

From New York Times ● Jul. 19, 2022

The transport sphere plowed along the trench, past all the fortified city’s defenses: walls, moats, machicolations, crossbow cannons, drawbridges, bristling spear pits, bladed gates, and giant mechanical grinders.

From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin

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