glacis
Americannoun
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glacis,
plural
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glacises
plural
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a gentle slope.
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Fortification. a bank of earth in front of the counterscarp or covered way of a fort, having an easy slope toward the field or open country.
noun
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a slight incline; slope
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an open slope in front of a fortified place
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short for glacis plate
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of glacis
1665–75; < Middle French; akin to Old French glacier to slide; compare Latin glaciāre to make into ice; see glacé
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:
This particular glacis was ground, compacted limestone, which became very slick with moisture.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 7, 2015
On another part of a wall, Cox was part of an excavation that uncovered a glacis, a defensive structure in early fortresses.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 7, 2015
The cannons are aimed, for the moment, at cattle upon the glacis, and children batting at the sky with sticks.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
There is no glacis or moat, but the machicolations, sixty feet or more up from the ground, must have afforded a well-nigh perfect means of repelling a near attack.
From Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine and the Loire Country by Mansfield, M. F. (Milburg Francisco)
Yet these were only two regiments; two others were encamped upon the glacis of Phalsbourg, where I arrived about five in the afternoon.
From The Pl?biscite or, A Miller's Story of the War by Chatrian, Alexandre
They reach their glacises, their ditches, covered ways, correct as mathematics; tear out chevaux-de-frise, hew down palisades, in the given number of minutes: Swift, ye Regiment's-carpenters; smite your best!
From History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 12 by Carlyle, Thomas
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.
