stronghold
Americannoun
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a defensible place; fortress
-
a major centre or area of predominance
Etymology
Origin of stronghold
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at strong, hold 1
Explanation
A stronghold is a building or other structure that is safe from attack. A fortress is a perfect example of a stronghold. A castle or fort surrounded by stone walls and moats is one kind of stronghold; they are built to keep the people or valuables inside them safe from invading armies. You might build a stronghold of driftwood and rocks around your prized sand sculpture on the beach, or even a figurative stronghold around yourself — to guard against having your feelings hurt.
Vocabulary lists containing stronghold
In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse
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The High King
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Pay Attention, Carter Jones
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Appeared in the January 22, 2026, print edition as 'In Ominous Sign for Regime, Iran’s Protests Began in Conservative Stronghold'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026
I was renting from this guy, kind of a character on the scene, and he would set up these speakeasy acoustic shows above this jeans store on Abbot Kinney called the Stronghold.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2025
The fight between Apache Stronghold and Resolution Copper has been ongoing for years.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2025
They must embark on an arduous journey to a lava-swamped region called the Nether and then excavate deep underground to find a dungeon known as a Stronghold.
From New York Times • May 17, 2024
Up at the head there lay, hard against the frowning hills, the squat, wide blur that was Courtrey’s Stronghold.
From Tharon of Lost Valley by Johnson, Frank Tenney
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
