gabion

[ gey-bee-uh n ]

/ ˈgeɪ bi ən /

noun

a cylinder of wickerwork filled with earth, used as a military defense.

a metal cylinder filled with stones and sunk in water, used in laying the foundations of a dam or jetty.

Nearby words

gabelle, gaberdine, gaberlunzie, gaberones, gabfest, gabion, gabionade, gable, gable end, gable roof, gable window

Origin of gabion

1570–80; < Middle French: rough, two-handled basket < Italian gabbione, augmentative of gabbia cage < Latin cavea cavity, cage

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gabion

At a distance through the rifts of mist I mistook this isolated hut of Garron's for a gabion.
A Village of Vagabonds|F. Berkeley Smith
You came to me with an anxious inquiry respecting your wounded cousin; I spoke to you of Captain Gabion.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 68, No. 417, July, 1850|Various
The gabion is a cylindrical basket of twigs, about two feet in diameter, and some three feet in length, and without a bottom.
Elements of Military Art and Science|Henry Wager Halleck
The form is then dropped down, the gabion inverted and the wattling completed.
Manual of Military Training|James A. Moss

Half an hour later Julie stood, scarcely breathing, her ear to the locked door of his gabion.
A Village of Vagabonds|F. Berkeley Smith

British Dictionary definitions for gabion

gabion

/ (ˈɡeɪbɪən) /

noun

a cylindrical metal container filled with stones, used in the construction of underwater foundations

a wickerwork basket filled with stones or earth, used (esp formerly) as part of a fortification

Word Origin for gabion

C16: from French: basket, from Italian gabbione, from gabbia cage, from Latin cavea; see cage

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