palisade

[ pal-uh-seyd ]

noun

1. a fence of pales or stakes set firmly in the ground, as for enclosure or defense.
2. any of a number of pales or stakes pointed at the top and set firmly in the ground in a close row with others to form a defense.
3. Botany. palisade parenchyma.
4. palisades, a line of cliffs.

verb (used with object)

, pal·i·sad·ed, pal·i·sad·ing.

1. to furnish or fortify with a palisade.

palisade

/ ˌpælɪˈseɪd /

noun

1. a strong fence made of stakes driven into the ground, esp for defence
2. one of the stakes used in such a fence
3. botany a layer of elongated mesophyll cells containing many chloroplasts, situated below the outer epidermis of a leaf blade

verb

1. tr to enclose with a palisade

Other Words From

• unpal·i·saded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of palisade¹

1590–1600; < French palissade < Old Provençal palissada, equivalent to paliss ( a ) paling (derivative of pal stake, pale ² ) + -ada -ade ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of palisade¹

C17: via French, from Old Provençal palissada, ultimately from Latin pālus stake; see pale ², pole ¹

Example Sentences

Fly fishing on the Roaring Fork River and mountain biking the Palisade Plunge, 32 miles of thrilling downhill singletrack, are easy day trips.

From Outside Online

“Usually what happens when you have a palisade, it’s a defensive work, and inside, you would have had the buildings and the structure,” she said.

From Washington Post

Grendel means, originally, no more than a bar or rod, or a palisade or lattice-work made of such bars or rods.

From Project Gutenberg

Many of these round houses were built close together, and then surrounded by a palisade made of tree trunks.

From Project Gutenberg

The next type is found in the monastery of St. Bride, which was simply a circular palisade encircling a sacred fire.

From Project Gutenberg

It seems that the citadel of Athens had been formerly surrounded by a wooden palisade.

From Project Gutenberg

But what she saw in the cheerful June sky beyond the palisade made her body go clammy-cold with horror.

From Project Gutenberg