wire entanglement

American  

noun

1. a barbed-wire obstacle, usually mounted on posts and zigzagged back and forth along a front, designed to channel, delay, or halt an advance by enemy foot soldiers.

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wire entanglement British  

noun

1. a barrier or obstruction of barbed wire used in warfare

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Etymology

Origin of wire entanglement

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wire entanglement

That night the Cabinet threw a barbed wire entanglement and a cordon of troops around the Ballhaus, retired within and hammered out a compromise which did all present much credit.

From Time Magazine Archive

In October 1916, under fierce enemy fire he succeeded in cutting an Austrian barbed wire entanglement and led a storming party to the capture of an important ridge position.

From Time Magazine Archive

At first the Prebendary thought that the Custos' sandy tom-cat had scaled the wire entanglement on the top of the wall.

From The Haunters & The Haunted Ghost Stories And Tales Of The Supernatural by Rhys, Ernest

Before the Turkish trenches can be reached by our men it is expected that they will have to get through a wire entanglement 25 feet wide and 6 feet high.

From The Incomparable 29th and the "River Clyde" by Davidson, George

The immediate defence of the batteries consists of a glacis planted with thorn bushes and a wire entanglement.

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