palisade

American  

[pal-uh-seyd] / ˌpæl əˈseɪd /

noun

• palisades
  plural

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.

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verb (used with object)

palisaded, palisading

1. to furnish or fortify with a palisade.

palisade British  

/ 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

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verb

1. (tr) to enclose with a palisade

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unpalisaded
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• palisades
  plural

Etymology

Origin of palisade

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

Explanation

A palisade is a heavy-duty fence that's strong enough to keep out intruders, like one you might see around a military camp. Traditionally, palisades were built with wooden stakes around small forts or castles as a way to keep out enemies. There's evidence that this kind of fence was often used in ancient Greece and Rome. More modern palisades are made out of metal and give protection to houses in dangerous neighborhoods, for example. The root word is the Latin palus, which means "stake."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

palisade palisades palisaded palisading

At Amnya, her team also noted a possible sign of social stratification, another development often linked to agriculture: a cluster of houses that sat, undefended, outside the palisade.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 29, 2023

Buckingham Palace was taken aback, and it responded with a terse, 61-word statement that sought to contain the drama within the familiar royal palisade of privacy.

From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2022

The mesophyll has two layers: an upper palisade layer comprised of tightly packed, columnar cells, and a lower spongy layer, comprised of loosely packed, irregularly shaped cells.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

Eight stories tall, Solaris features a sleek palisade of broad teak-covered decks suitable for hosting a horde of well-heeled partygoers.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 5, 2022

At the same time the palisade was also intended to welcome the citizenry—anyone could freely pass through its dozen or so wide gates.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

With room inside for dozens of people and dwellings sunk almost 2 meters deep for warmth in Siberian winters, the fortresses were ringed by earthen walls several meters high and topped with wooden palisades.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 29, 2023

The noodle house may be hard to find because it’s literally overshadowed by the palisades of the Great Wall Shopping Mall nearby.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 8, 2022

The trolley ran along the bluff overlooking the palisades of the Potomac.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 6, 2021

They made houses from bent saplings covered with bark, mats, or hides, and sometimes surrounded their villages with log palisades.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

Settlers were afraid to hunt and fish, so they remained inside the palisades.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

Last March, Historic St. Mary’s City announced that the outlines of the palisaded fort, erected by White settlers in 1634, had finally been discovered.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 23, 2022

The individual home had palisaded walls, made of large, squared timbers, set two feet deep in the earth and rising seven feet above it.

From Virginia Architecture in the Seventeenth Century by Henry Chandlee Forman

The wonted inmates of the palisaded enclosure were no longer there, but their place was occupied by a shoal of even more wretched beings, just imported with a caravan from Guráguê.

From The Highlands of Ethiopia by William Cornwallis Harris

On a bright spring morning, May 17th, Joliet and Marquette, with five other men, left behind them the palisaded post and chapel of St. Ignace.

From Explorers and Travellers by Adolphus W. Greely

Ojeda collected a few of his followers, and made a desperate resistance from the interior of a palisaded enclosure.

From The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 3 by Frederick Whymper

The palisading could be completed during the year, and in 1668 the village could be said to have changed.

From The Life and Times of Kateri Tekakwitha The Lily of the Mohawks by Ellen H. Walworth

When I knew the place intimately, on the very highest part of the Park was a large enclosure of the wild forest, railed in with high wooden palisading.

From Spanish Life in Town and Country by William Harbutt Dawson

Statues of the late Queen, Oliver Cromwell, and Whateley would complete the beauty of the structure if accompanied by the removal of the palisading.

From Edge Hill The Battle and Battlefield by Edwin Walford

At each side of this construction was a species of fortification, constructed of high palisading and earth-works.

From The Serapion Brethren. Vol. II by Ernst Theordor Wilhelm Hoffmann

In due time I reached the gate in the palisading which surrounded Don Manuel’s garden and passed through.

From The Congo Rovers A Story of the Slave Squadron by J. Schonberg