a strong or fortified place occupied by troops and usually surrounded by walls, ditches, and other defensive works; a fortress; fortification.
any permanent army post.
(formerly) a trading post.
fortification.
fortified.
a fortified enclosure, building, or position able to be defended against an enemy
informal to maintain or guard something temporarily
First recorded in 1550–60; from Middle French, noun use of adjective fort “strong,” from Latin fortis “strong, tough, hardy”
A fort is a place that's made strong and secure enough to be defended during a war. Although it’s usually a military word, you can also make a fort with chairs and a blanket to defend against annoying little siblings. A fort can also be called a fortress or a fortification, although typically a fortress describes a larger structure or a series of structures, while a fort is usually only one. All of these words come from the Latin word fortis for "strong, mighty, or brave.” Traditionally, forts have been strongly defended, with thick stone walls and other elements protecting them from invaders. Today in the US, some forts are simply military bases. Others are simply in the living room.
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Flushed and sweating, 31-year-old Annisa Enggracia Fidel runs back and forth to defend her fort from invaders -- hundreds of fellow adults all beating the blues by playing a nostalgic Indonesian children's game.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
The fort immediately surrendered, the night’s darkness having “proved to be the attackers’ greatest ally, because it heightened the royalists’ fear of the unknown.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Despite those staggering volumes, Ukraine holds the fort.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026
Archaeological sites nearby include a villa at Eastbourne, a fort at Pevensey, and rural communities at Bullock Down and Birling.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 25, 2026
When I get there, the fort Zayd and I made is still standing in the middle of the room.
From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan
“Got some guys that will meet us in Denver and try to hold fort. We got some rough estimates about when we’ll start to get some of these guys back.”
From Washington Times ● May 19, 2022
“Like all national parks, the Presidio has deferred maintenance. It is, after all, a 19th-century Army fort. We’ve invested in addressing those and the focus of deferred maintenance doesn’t have to postpone other priorities.”
From Washington Times ● Sep. 9, 2021
“I was worried about my husband, but I knew I had to hold down the fort. I had no other options, of course.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 29, 2020
“It’s symbolic to the history of the fort. It’s a patriotic statement on the part of the Friends.”
From Washington Times ● Sep. 25, 2016
“Anything happens, we all get ourselves back to the fort. You hear?”
From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis
As kids, we converted this mountain of boxes into forts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
Long before forts, churches or written records marked this coastline, a group of travellers left Akwamufie, the historic capital of the Akwamu Kingdom.
From BBC ● May 2, 2026
“We’re still building forts, we’re just doing it at a large scale,” Josh said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026
Even if the country was never home to the coastal forts from which the trafficking of African people was organised, many enslaved people passed through it on the way to the New World.
From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026
She watches New York City recede; the forts of New Jersey salute her departure with cannons; channel markers bob in the swells.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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.
