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

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

Word Origin and History for embankment

embankment

1786, from embank "to enclose with a bank" (1570s; see bank (n.2)) + -ment.