embattle

¹ American  

[em-bat-l] / ɛmˈbæt l /

verb (used with object)

embattled, embattling

1. to arrange in order of battle; prepare for battle; arm.

2. to fortify (a town, camp, etc.).

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embattle ² American  

[em-bat-l] / ɛmˈbæt l /

verb (used with object)

embattled, embattling

1. to furnish with battlements.

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embattle British  

/ ɪmˈbætəl /

verb

1. to deploy (troops) for battle

2. to strengthen or fortify (a position, town, etc)

3. to provide (a building) with battlements

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Etymology

Origin of embattle¹

1350–1400; Middle English embatailen < Middle French embataillier. See em- ¹, battle ¹

Origin of embattle²

First recorded in 1350–1400, embattle is from the Middle English word embatailen. See em- ¹, battle ²

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

embattle embattled embattling

Those raids have further threatened a health care system in the embattle territory that is struggling to cope with the fallout from the war.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 30, 2024

Hunting out two aggressive spiders, he would embattle them and watch with glee through a magnifying glass.

From Time Magazine Archive

They were razed by commission, or by writs to the sheriffs; and a law was further enacted that “none hereafter, without license, should embattle his house.”

From Amenities of Literature Consisting of Sketches and Characters of English Literature by Isaac Disraeli

In England generally castles belonged only to the Crown or to great nobles, and no gentleman was suffered to castellate or embattle his walls without a special licence from the Crown.

From Cornwall by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould

She feared he would vent plain speech that would cut Mr. Feuerstein's sensitive soul and embattle his dignity and pride against his love.

From The Fortune Hunter by David Graham Phillips

By Monday evening, footage of the protests had made its way into his stump speech for embattled Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas, where video clips had already been screened for rallygoers.

From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026

We've Won It All', a gesture of support for the embattled chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

According to a statement from the family, the embattled celebrity blogger has entered a residential treatment program after receiving treatment for his physical injuries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Elizabeth Holmes has continued to put a positive spin on her embattled blood-testing company—while broadly keeping employees in the dark on many issues—even as Theranos’s regulatory and legal troubles mount.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 18, 2022

The unprecedented price demanded—and at this embattled hour of the world’s history—is the transcendence of the realities of color, of nations, and of altars.

From "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin

Oh! she could have lingered there forever! and hardly did she know what it was to draw any but sighs of bliss till she saw the towers of Paris embattling the horizon.

From The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter

But after embattling his facts, an advocate who should wholly suppress a not unreasonable surmise, which might tell eloquently upon his cause—such an advocate, would he not be blameworthy?

From Moby Dick, or, the whale by Herman Melville

He organized it piecemeal, on a class basis, instead of embattling it as a whole.

From William Pitt and the Great War by John Holland Rose

The portly peltry of a goat; its horns embattling its effigy head; its mouth the nozzle; and its long beard flowed to its jet-black hoofs.

From Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I by Herman Melville

Then in embattling his Legions, he places the Saints here, and the Angels there, as if one were the main Battle of Infantry, and the other the Wings of Cavalry.

From The History of the Devil As Well Ancient as Modern: In Two Parts by Daniel Defoe

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