rampart

[ram-pahrt, -pert]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rampart ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Fortification.

a broad elevation or mound of earth raised as a fortification around a place and usually capped with a stone or earth parapet.
such an elevation together with the parapet.

anything serving as a bulwark or defense.

verb (used with object)

to furnish with or as if with a rampart.

Origin of rampart

1575–85; < Middle French, derivative of remparer, equivalent to re- re- + emparer to take possession of < Provençal amparar ≪ Latin ante- ante- + parāre to prepare

Synonyms for rampart

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rampart ON THESAURUS.COM

2. fortification, breastwork, barricade, guard.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for rampart

barricade, bastion, ridge, fence, barrier, bulwark, wall, parapet, support, guard, defense, hill, embankment, protection, elevation, mound, security, fort, breastwork, earthwork

Examples from the Web for rampart

Contemporary Examples of rampart

The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days.
Rogue L.A. Cop’s Facebook Manifesto: ‘You Will Now Live the Life of Prey’
The Daily Beast
February 8, 2013
And, Denzel Washington and Woody Harrelson as corrupt characters in, respectively, Safe House and Rampart.
Flick Picks: Denzel Washington as a Baddie, Rachel McAdams in ‘The Vow’
Ramin Setoodeh, Peter Travers
February 10, 2012
In Rampart, Woody Harrelson plays a corrupt, violent LAPD officer.
Woody Harrelson on ‘Rampart’
Richard Rushfield
January 13, 2012
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story misstated the official release date of Rampart.
Woody Harrelson on ‘Rampart’
Richard Rushfield
January 13, 2012
I first discovered Hitchens from the other side of the rampart.
Christopher Hitchens: A Young Contrarian Salutes Him
Max McGuinness
December 18, 2011

Historical Examples of rampart

We went, and walked in silence to and fro along the rampart of the fortress.
A Hero of Our Time
M. Y. Lermontov
Until he, Ercwlf, Descended into the fosse of the rampart, And was covered with sand.
Y Gododin
Aneurin
It was certain death for any Indian to step from behind his rampart.
King Philip
John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
A pallid sun, low, gleaming just over a rampart of mountain-tops.
The Hound From The North
Ridgwell Cullum
Others shot their horses and built a rampart of their bodies.
Henry IV, Makers of History
John S. C. Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for rampart

rampart

noun

the surrounding embankment of a fort, often including any walls, parapets, walks, etc, that are built on the bank

anything resembling a rampart in form or function, esp in being a defence or bulwark

Canadian a steep rock wall in a river gorge

verb

(tr) to provide with a rampart; fortify

Word Origin for rampart

C16: from Old French, from remparer, from re- + emparer to take possession of, from Old Provençal antparar, from Latin ante before + parāre to prepare

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for rampart

"earthen elevation around a place for fortification," sometimes also including parapets, 1580s, from Middle French rempart, rampart, from remparer "to fortify," from re- "again" (see re-) + emparer "fortify, take possession of," from Old Provençal amparer, from Vulgar Latin *anteparare "prepare," properly "to make preparations beforehand," from Latin ante- "before" (see ante) + parare "prepare" (see pare). With excrescent -t in French, perhaps by influence of boulevart (see boulevard).