fosse
noun
a moat or defensive ditch in a fortification, usually filled with water.
fosse
1 American
[fos, faws]
/ fɒs, fɔs /
Or
foss
noun
-
a moat or defensive ditch in a fortification, usually filled with water.
-
any ditch, trench, or canal.
Fosse
2
American
[fos-ee]
/ ˈfɒs i /
noun
fosse
British
/ fɒs /
noun
Etymology
Origin of fosse
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Latin fossa fossa 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Beyond it was a deep fosse lost in soft shadow, but the grass upon its brink was green, as if it glowed still in memory of the sun that had gone.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
There was a road paved with white stone running on the outer brink of the fosse.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Round210 this spot they raised a rampart, encircled by a fosse.
From The Monarchs of the Main, Volume III (of 3) Or, Adventures of the Buccaneers by Walter Thornbury
Huge heaps of the ruined walls, some of them tons in weight, have been tumbled into the deep fosse that surrounds the castle, but they are still almost as solid as rocks.
From Beauties and Antiquities of Ireland by T. O. Russell
On the inner brink of this deep fosse there are now left thirty-five huge stones out of the original number of about one thousand.
From The Bath Road History, Fashion, & Frivolity on an Old Highway by Charles G. (Charles George) Harper
When Fosse won the Nobel in 2023, that meant publishing a big run of his almost 700-page masterwork.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
Police were called to Meynell Lake, off Fosse Way in Syston, to reports a teenage boy had entered the lake at 13:30 BST on Thursday.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
With his gray-and-white mane sleekly accentuating his black and lavender ensemble, he struts with an eminence that had me picturing Eartha Kitt in a Bob Fosse spectacular.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
Left to talk, Jacobs whirls through stories of past, present and future: anecdotes about his grandmother planning her lunch spot around which department store she’d spend the day at, and memories of Bob Fosse films.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2026
As directed by Bob Fosse on Broadway, the dancing was raucous, and the themes—Pippin’s relationships with multiple women, his struggles with authority and the church—were overtly presented.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
