rifle pit

American  

noun

1. a pit or short trench affording shelter to riflemen in firing at an enemy.

---

Etymology

Origin of rifle pit

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

This all happened one dark night in the month of July, 1864, in the rifle pit in front of Atlanta.

From "Co. Aytch" Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment or, A Side Show of the Big Show by Watkins, Sam R.

Sand-rat—an officer or soldier on duty in the rifle pit at target practice.

From Rhymes of the Rookies by Christian, W. E.

He waited only long enough to get the lie of the land around the rifle pit, then crept quietly back to his companions.

From On Land and Sea at the Dardanelles by Bridges, T. C. (Thomas Charles)

The boys of the Thirty-third New York being on the skirmish line on the 8th, charged a rifle pit with shouts and hurrahs, and drove the rebels from it.

From Three Years in the Sixth Corps A Concise Narrative of Events in the Army of the Potomac, from 1861 to the Close of the Rebellion, April, 1865 by Stevens, George T.

Some of our boys in the rifle pits declared they heard the Johnnies clap as I jumped down into the rifle pit on my return.

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