barbette

¹ American  

[bahr-bet] / bɑrˈbɛt /

noun

1. (within a fortification) a platform or mound of earth from which guns may be fired over the parapet instead of through embrasures.

2. Navy. an armored cylinder for protecting the lower part of a turret on a warship.

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Barbette ² American  

[bahr-bet] / bɑrˈbɛt /

noun

1. a first name, form of Barbara.

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barbette British  

/ bɑːˈbɛt /

noun

1. (formerly) an earthen platform inside a parapet, from which heavy guns could fire over the top

2. an armoured cylinder below a turret on a warship that protects the revolving structure and foundation of the turret

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Etymology

Origin of barbette

1765–75; < French, equivalent to barbe beard + -ette -ette, probably from the general metaphorical use of barbe for something which protrudes or faces outward

Example Sentences

Last came the ample habit-coat of heavy cloth, topped by a linen rochet and a stiffly starched barbette of cambric .

From Time Magazine Archive

She carries an obsolete "barbette" conning-tower—a six-foot affair with railed platform forward—and our warning beam plays on the top of it as a policeman's lantern flashes on the area sneak.

From With The Night Mail A Story of 2000 A.D. (Together with extracts from the comtemporary magazine in which it appeared) by Leyendecker, Frank X.

A barbette battery on the cliffs of the Jersey shore, left of the ferry, fired down upon the frigate, but with little effect.

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

It was a parallelogram, and mounted barbette guns only.

From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Drake, Samuel Adams

Most of the early vessels fitted with cannon were of the galley type, the guns being mounted on the upper deck, and fired over the bulwarks, en barbette.

From Ancient and Modern Ships. Part 1. Wooden Sailing Ships by Holmes, George C. V.