stockade

[sto-keyd]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR stockade ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Fortification. a defensive barrier consisting of strong posts or timbers fixed upright in the ground.

an enclosure or pen made with posts and stakes.

U.S. Military. a prison for military personnel.

verb (used with object), stock·ad·ed, stock·ad·ing.

to protect, fortify, or encompass with a stockade.

Origin of stockade

1605–15; < Middle French estocade, variant of estacade < Spanish estacada. See stake¹, -ade¹

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

Examples from the Web for stockade

Contemporary Examples of stockade

It was Korea, and I served three years—half of it in the stockade.
The Renegade: Robert Downey Sr. on His Classic Films, Son’s Battle with Drugs, and Bill Cosby
Marlow Stern
November 26, 2014

Historical Examples of stockade

We then made a lodgment on the side of the mount near the stockade.
A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion
William Dobein James
He said the men were rebuilding the stockade and getting in the harvest.
The Trail Book
Mary Austin
They saw that the brush had been cut from the ground outside the stockade, as if for battle.
The Trail Book
Mary Austin
With this they were to surmount the stockade and gain the open.
Captain Blood
Rafael Sabatini
Over the stockade and the Rajah's buildings Brown saw their lights on the water.
Lord Jim
Joseph Conrad

British Dictionary definitions for stockade

stockade

noun

an enclosure or barrier of stakes and timbers

US a military prison or detention area

verb

(tr) to surround with a stockade

Word Origin for stockade

C17: from Spanish estacada, from estaca a stake, post, of Germanic origin; see stake 1

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 stockade

1610s, "a barrier of stakes," from Spanish estacada, from estaca "stake," from a Germanic source (cf. Old English staca, see stake (n.1)). Meaning "prison, especially on a military post" first recorded 1865.