embankment
Americannoun
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a bank, mound, dike, or the like, raised to hold back water, carry a roadway, etc.
-
the action of embanking.
noun
Etymology
Origin of embankment
Vocabulary lists containing embankment
"The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket," Vocabulary from the short story
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Part 1 Vocabulary (Unit 4)
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Example Sentences
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On the morning of 6 April 2009, a lorry driver pulled off the M4 and parked in an underpass near Porthcawl, south Wales, and spotted a suitcase in an embankment.
From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026
Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said crews responded to a crash involving a car which rolled down an embankment in Pengenffordd, Powys, at 19:45 GMT on 31 January.
From BBC • Feb. 2, 2026
Papoli, 58, of Newport Beach, was found dead Nov. 18 about 75 feet down a steep embankment near Highway 138 and Crestline Road, in the mountain town of Crestline, officials reported.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026
Some of the carriages had tumbled down an embankment of four metres, Sanz said at his press conference.
From Barron's • Jan. 18, 2026
As in 1935, California had drawn lane number one, the most protected lane, snug up against the railroad embankment, sitting right under Ulbrickson’s nose.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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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.