escarp

American  

[ih-skahrp] / ɪˈskɑrp /

noun

1. Fortification. the inner slope or wall of the ditch surrounding a rampart.

2. any similar steep slope.

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verb (used with object)

1. to make into an escarp; give a steep slope to; furnish with escarps.

escarp British  

/ ɪˈskɑːp /

noun

1. fortifications the inner side of the ditch separating besiegers and besieged Compare counterscarp

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verb

1. a rare word for scarp

Etymology

Origin of escarp

1680–90; < French, Middle French escarpe < Italian scarpa < Germanic; see scarp

Example Sentences

The ladders were thrown down, but they were quickly again raised against the escarp.

From Our Soldiers Gallant Deeds of the British Army during Victoria's Reign by Kingston, William Henry Giles

They have no ditches, but an escarp of ten feet in the lava.

From The Life of Gordon, Volume I by Boulger, Demetrius Charles

The line of the escarp is called the magistral line since it regulates the trace.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various

There is no escarp, the natural slope of the rampart being carried down to the bottom of the ditch.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various

They were much used in connexion with deep ditches, and are palisades placed so as to project horizontally from the escarp, or sloping forward in the bottom of the ditch.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various