terreplein

American  

[ter-pleyn, ter-uh-] / ˈtɛrˌpleɪn, ˈtɛr ə- /

noun

Fortification.

1. the top platform or horizontal surface of a rampart where guns are mounted.

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terreplein British  

/ ˈtɛəˌpleɪn /

noun

1. the top of a rampart where guns are placed behind the parapet

2. an embankment with a level top surface

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Etymology

Origin of terreplein

1585–95; < French < Italian terrapieno, derivative of terrapienare to fill with earth; see terra, plenum

Example Sentences

Also the use of shrapnel made it impossible for troops to find cover on the terreplein of a work some distance behind the parapet.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various

Higher again, upon a terreplein, are lines of tanks laid out with all that lavishness of labour which distinguishes similar works in Syria: it is, however, difficult to assign any date to these constructions.

From The Land of Midian — Volume 1 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

The weak points of this trace, due to its being arranged on a small pentagon, are that the terreplein or interior space of the bastions is rather cramped, and the salient angles too acute.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various

But the remaining side, toward the land, has some heights; and the ground is such that a trench can be opened up to the wall, which has no terreplein.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 27 of 55 1636-37 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Robertson, James Alexander

At the salient of the bastion there is a mortar battery under the rampart, and a casemated traverse for howitzers upon the terreplein.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various