gabion

American  

[gey-bee-uhn] / ˈgeɪ bi ən /

noun

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

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

---

gabion British  

/ ˈɡeɪbɪən /

noun

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

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

---

Etymology

Origin of gabion

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

Example Sentences

There were the fiber-cement panels of the 1987 Ricola storage facility in Laufen, Switzerland, and the gabion walls, filled with stones, of the Dominus winery in the Napa Valley, completed a decade later.

From New York Times • Jul. 7, 2023

These gabion walls will support the berms of soil along the approaches and won’t be visible to the wildlife, who will only see what appears to be a continuation of the hill, Rock said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 21, 2023

She and the contractor brainstormed gabion walls paired with rusty steel to complement the home’s midcentury modern aesthetic.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 20, 2022

Students may also caution that Hesco has yet to face hard times: wars and floods have ensured demand for its moneymaker, the gabion that Heselden invented with his British Coal redundancy.

From The Guardian • Oct. 17, 2010

Miner's basket; small gabion used temporarily for shelter to riflemen, and placed on the parapet, either to fire through, or for protection from a force placed on a higher level.

From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir