embankment

[em-bangk-muhnt]

noun

1. a bank, mound, dike, or the like, raised to hold back water, carry a roadway, etc.

2. the action of embanking.

embankment

/ ɪmˈbæŋkmənt /

noun

1. a man-made ridge of earth or stone that carries a road or railway or confines a waterway See also levee 1

Word History and Origins

Origin of embankment¹

First recorded in 1780–90; embank + -ment

Example Sentences

They located the woman about 75 feet down a steep embankment.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They walked along the granite embankments of the Neva, past the magnificent Admiralty building and its proud white columns, its countless statues and friezes depicting figures from myths and ancient times.

Read more on Literature

They then dropped it out the window, carried it across the river bridge in a wheelbarrow and fled in a car parked near the embankment.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Other wider sections of the Radical Road would have a sloped earth embankment built to catch any rockfall.

Read more on BBC

From an embankment overlooking Gaza City, there's no hiding what this war has done.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• hill