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Showing results for embankment. Search instead for Impackment.
Synonyms

embankment

American  
[em-bangk-muhnt] / ɛmˈbæŋk mənt /

noun

  1. a bank, mound, dike, or the like, raised to hold back water, carry a roadway, etc.

  2. the action of embanking.

embankment British  
/ ɪmˈbæŋkmənt /

noun

  1. a man-made ridge of earth or stone that carries a road or railway or confines a waterway See also levee 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

Etymology

Origin of embankment

First recorded in 1780–90; embank + -ment

Vocabulary lists containing embankment

"The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket," Vocabulary from the short story

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Part 1 Vocabulary (Unit 4)

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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.

Tour operator Hakuba Lion Adventure said the vehicle flipped after going up an embankment along a forest road and that police were investigating.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2026

Papoli, 58, of Newport Beach, was found dead Nov. 18 about 75 feet down a steep embankment near Highway 138 and Crestline Road, in the mountain town of Crestline, officials reported.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026

Some of the carriages had tumbled down an embankment of four metres, Sanz said at his press conference.

From Barron's • Jan. 18, 2026

And snow can obscure the trail entirely, he said — “you think you’re stepping on solid ground and, literally, your whole body drops all the way down to your chest” or, worse, down an embankment.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 31, 2025

He took a big swing at the snake with his shovel, missed the terrified reptile by at least six inches, lost his footing, and fell over the embankment.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

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.