abatis

American  

[ab-uh-tee, -tis, uh-bat-ee, uh-bat-is] / ˈæb əˌti, -tɪs, əˈbæt i, əˈbæt ɪs /

noun

abatis, plural abatises plural

1. an obstacle or barricade of trees with bent or sharpened branches directed toward an enemy.

2. a barbed wire entanglement used as an obstacle or barricade against an enemy.

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abatis British  

/ ˈæbətiː, ˈæbətɪs /

noun

1. a rampart of felled trees bound together placed with their branches outwards

2. a barbed-wire entanglement before a position

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• abatis
  plural
• abatises
  plural

Etymology

Origin of abatis

1760–70; < French; Old French abateis < Vulgar Latin *abatteticius, derivative of Old French abattre ( see abate)

Example Sentences

The defenses consisted of two lines of abatis and a line of earthworks manned by Brig.

From Washington Post • Sep. 17, 2021

Our men worked their way through the abatis of trees, took the outer line of rifle-pits, and bivouacked within the enemy's lines.

From Famous American Statesmen by Bolton, Sarah Knowles

Lower down were two rows of abatis, and the shore at the foot of the hill could be swept by vessels of war anchored in the river.

From The Student's Life of Washington; Condensed from the Larger Work of Washington Irving For Young Persons and for the Use of Schools by Irving, Washington

In front of our breastwork was a ditch, an abatis and a line of barbed wire entanglement.

From Personal Recollections of the Civil War By One Who Took Part in It as a Private Soldier in the 21st Volunteer Regiment of Infantry from Massachusetts by Stone, James Madison

On the right hand, in particular, were romantic forest scenes; a wilderness of fallen trees, which the floods and storms had thrown and piled upon each other, like an abatis.

From Travels in the Interior of North America, Part I, (Being Chapters I-XV of the London Edition, 1843) Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, Volume XXII by Maximilian, Alexander Philipp