tenaille

noun

fortifications a low outwork in the main ditch between two bastions

Word Origin

C16: from French, literally: tongs, from Late Latin tenācula, pl of tenaculum

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

Examples from the Web for tenaille

Historical Examples

Two were placed in the tenaille of the castle, and two were kept in reserve.
Annals of a Fortress
E. Viollet-le-Duc
Here the main bastions and tenaille are detached from the enceinte.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6
Various
On the twenty-third the tenaille was stormed, and a lodgement made along the covered way.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II.
Tobias Smollett
The tenaille trace: Flanks back to back between the faces (fig. 16).
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6
Various
These works show various applications of the tenaille system.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6
Various

tenaille

Word Origin

Examples from the Web for tenaille

Historical Examples

Two were placed in the tenaille of the castle, and two were kept in reserve.

Here the main bastions and tenaille are detached from the enceinte.

On the twenty-third the tenaille was stormed, and a lodgement made along the covered way.

The tenaille trace: Flanks back to back between the faces (fig. 16).

These works show various applications of the tenaille system.