Siegfried Line

American  

noun

1. a zone of fortifications in W Germany facing the Maginot Line, constructed in the years preceding World War II.

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Siegfried line British  

noun

1. the line of fortifications built by the Germans prior to and during World War II opposite the Maginot line in France

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Example Sentences

Eric, who was then 15, managed to avoid the draft but was conscripted by the Nazi government to dig trenches on the Siegfried line, a 400-mile defensive line in western Germany.

From New York Times

The German World War I plan included a Siegfried Line, a Wotan Line, an Operation Alberich; the analogy between the Valkyries and air warfare “became a cliché almost overnight.”

From Slate

Still with Old Hickory, Mr. Denius went on to help capture the German city of Aachen, part of the Nazis’ Siegfried Line.

From Washington Post

Conceived by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, it was meant to provide a route into Germany’s industrial heartland that avoided the well-defended Siegfried Line farther south.

From Economist

They were manning a lightly defended spot along the old Westwall, a reinforcement ridge the Allies called the Siegfried Line.

From Salon