embankment

[ em-bangk-muh nt ]

/ ɛmˈbæŋk mənt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR embankment ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

the action of embanking.

RELATED WORDS

hill, breakwater, mound, bank, causeway

Nearby words

emasculation, emba, embacle, embalm, embank, embankment, embar, embarcadero, embarcation, embargo, embark

Origin of embankment

First recorded in 1780–90; embank + -ment

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for embankment

The train bore me away … we passed row after row of little grey slum houses running at right angles to the embankment.
Orwell’s Lies: His Diaries Reveal Problems with the Truth|Jimmy So|August 19, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The plane settled about 400 yards from the runway in an embankment off a five-lane highway.
Travis Barker’s Emotional Odyssey|Marlow Stern|September 26, 2011|DAILY BEAST
“He climbed back up the embankment and slipped in the mud, got mad and chewed me out for half an hour,” Kronk said bitterly.
Casey’s Defense Fizzles|Diane Dimond|July 1, 2011|DAILY BEAST
It was with surprise that he found himself, as often of late, on the embankment of the North Warigesui.
The Yotsuya Kwaidan or O'Iwa Inari|James S. De Benneville

You may sail along the river or slough, therefore, for miles, and see only occasional evidences of the embankment.
Northern California, Oregon, and the Sandwich Islands|Charles Nordhoff
Perhaps this was why a policeman on the Embankment spoke to him, and said "Good evening."
The Man Who Was Thursday|G. K. Chesterton
The bottom of the ditch was wet, and he crawled up the embankment with mud-soaked knees, and sat on the shoulder again.
The Hoofer|Walter M. Miller
I went for a walk last night and when the fog came up I strayed over an embankment—and had a rather nasty fall.
The Tyranny of Weakness|Charles Neville Buck

British Dictionary definitions for embankment

embankment

/ (ɪmˈbæŋkmənt) /

noun

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012