berm

American  

[burm] / bɜrm /

noun

1. Fortification. Also berme. a horizontal surface between the exterior slope of a rampart and the moat.

2. Also called bench.  any level strip of ground at the summit or sides, or along the base, of a slope.

3. Also called backshore.  Also called beach berm.  a nearly flat back portion of a beach, formed of material deposited by the action of the waves.

4. Chiefly Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. the bank of a canal or the shoulder of a road.

5. Chiefly Alaska. a mound of snow or dirt, as formed when clearing land.

6. a bank of earth placed against an exterior wall or walls of a house or other building as protection against extremes of temperature.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cover or protect with a berm.

   The side walls were bermed to a height of three feet.

berm British  

/ bɜːm /

noun

1. a narrow path or ledge at the edge of a slope, road, or canal

2. the grass verge of a suburban street, usually kept mown

3. fortifications a narrow path or ledge between a moat and a rampart

4. military a man-made ridge of sand, designed as an obstacle to tanks, which, in crossing it, have to expose their vulnerable underparts

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berm Scientific  

/ bûrm /

1. A nearly horizontal or landward-sloping portion of a beach formed by the deposition of sediment by storm waves. A beach may have no berm at all, or it may have more than one berm.

2. A narrow man-made ledge or shelf, as along the top or bottom of a slope.

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Etymology

Origin of berm

1720–30; < French berme < Dutch berm; akin to brim ¹

Explanation

A berm is a raised strip of ground that runs along the side of a road or a body of water. You might stand on the berm by a lake with your fishing pole as you bait your hook. A berm is any stretch of grass or land that forms a kind of shelf above or along a river, train tracks, or highway. Some berms are a natural feature of the landscape, while others are man made. A berm can form a barrier between two spaces, and when the word is used in a military context it means a defensive wall of sorts. It comes from an Old Dutch root, baerm, "edge of a dike."

Example Sentences

Among the U.S. servicemembers massed near the berm between Saudi Arabia and Iraq was Mark Hertling, a pensive Army major on his first combat deployment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 9, 2026

Earlier this year, the militia tightened its hold on El Fasher by walling it off with a sand berm, according to satellite photos published in August by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 28, 2025

The researchers observed a 22km berm, which formed a semicircle from the west to the north of the city.

From BBC • Aug. 29, 2025

The driver lost control of the vehicle and struck a dirt berm, causing the car to roll over several times, the station reported.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2024

Guarded by sheer walls on three sides, its soldiers had only to watch the fourth side, across which was an earthen berm.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• boundary
• brink
• corner
• end
• fringe
• line
• lip
• margin
• mouth
• outskirt
• perimeter
• rim
• shore
• threshold
• verge