a moat or defensive ditch in a fortification, usually filled with water.
any ditch, trench, or canal.
1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Latin fossa fossa 1
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
He went back, got his blanket, cut it into strips, made a rope, and by its means climbed the gate, dropped into a fosse, from which he reached and swam across the harbour.
From The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 1 by Whymper, Frederick
Warton, in his Account of Kiddington, Oxon, p. 62., edition 1815, observes that Stukeley describes a fosse called Grimsditch, near Ditchley House, between Stunsfield and Chipping Norton, the vallum of which was eastward.
A surly arquebusier with a steel cap on his head, his gun upon his shoulder, and the rest thereof in his hand, was the first person that he encountered at the bridge over the fosse.
From Henry of Guise; (Vol. II of 3) or, The States of Blois by James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
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
But mostly she’ll watch Bob Fosse dance on a loop while curled up in bed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026
Queerness is an indelible feature of our species, Fosse indicates through his visual device.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2025
When forced by Pozzo to dance, Mr. Thornton merely doffs his bowler hat rhythmically a few times in a funny nod to Bob Fosse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2025
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
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.
