palisade

American  

[pal-uh-sayd] / 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

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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

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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

In the city of New Amsterdam, they grew crops and constructed important sites, including the palisade in 1653 that gave today’s Wall Street its name.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026

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

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

Sometime in the 1930s, the Hungarian photographer Anna Barna shot “Onlooker,” a picture of a boy standing on a chair seen from behind as he peers over a palisade.

From New York Times ● Jul. 11, 2021

On the south side of fire castle, moss grew thick upon the palisade and crept halfway up the towers.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

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

Other than the shell of a reconstructed barracks and the palisades outlining the fort, there were no other attempts at verisimilitude.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2022

Survivors from his expedition described large towns of thatched houses, surrounded by strong palisades and watchtowers.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

The king’s host departed Deepwood Motte by the light of a golden dawn, uncoiling from behind the log palisades like a long, steel serpent emerging from its nest.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

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

It was a dutiful effort to remember that the Hôtel de Ville had not always been a mangled pile, its palisaded courtyard once something other than the site of a Y.M.C.A. hut.

From Notes of a Camp-Follower on the Western Front by E. W. (Ernest William) Hornung

They lived in cleverly and strongly palisaded villages and their agricultural activities, falling to the women's share of tribal work, were probably further advanced than those of any other Indians north of Mexico.

From Legends of Loudoun An account of the history and homes of a border county of Virginia's Northern Neck by Harrison Williams

Another Indian habitation with pitched roof and palisaded walls once stood in a spot north of the present Pamunkey Indian Reservation, near West Point, Virginia.

From Virginia Architecture in the Seventeenth Century by Henry Chandlee Forman

For this purpose a parapet 7 or 8 ft. high, with a steep slope, perhaps palisaded, up which the attackers must climb after passing the obstacle, was excellent.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various

The dying watch-fires were speedily fanned into flame; hundreds of fire-brands flew into the dry planks of the palisading.

From A Struggle for Rome, Vol. 2 (of 3) by Felix Dahn

The whole country was surrounded by nine circles of double palisading, formed of trunks of trees twenty feet in height.

From Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 1 A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History by Charles F. (Charles Francis) Horne

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

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

Sometimes the gardens and cornfields were inside this palisading, sometimes outside.

From American Indians by Frederick Starr

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