Rampart \Ram"part\ (r[a^]m"p[aum]rt), n. [F. rempart, OF.
rempar, fr. remparer to fortify, se remparer to fence or
intrench one's self; pref. re- re- + pref. en- (L. in) +
parer to defend, parry, prepare, L. parare to prepare. See
Pare.]
[1913 Webster]
1. That which fortifies and defends from assault; that which
secures safety; a defense or bulwark.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Fort.) A broad embankment of earth round a place, upon
which the parapet is raised. It forms the substratum of
every permanent fortification. --Mahan.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Bulwark; fence; security; guard.
Usage: Rampart, Bulwark. These words were formerly
interchanged; but in modern usage a distinction has
sprung up between them. The rampart of a fortified
place is the enceinte or entire main embankment or
wall which surrounds it. The term bulwark is now
applied to peculiarly strong outworks which project
for the defense of the rampart, or main work. A single
bastion is a bulwark. In using these words
figuratively, rampart is properly applied to that
which protects by walling out; bulwark to that which
stands in the forefront of danger, to meet and repel
it. Hence, we speak of a distinguished individual as
the bulwark, not the rampart, of the state. This
distinction, however, is often disregarded.
[1913 Webster]
Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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111 Moby Thesaurus words for "rampart":
abatis, abutment, advanced work, arc-boutant, arch dam, backstop,
balistraria, bamboo curtain, bank, banquette, bar,
barbed-wire entanglement, barbican, barrage, barricade, barrier,
bartizan, bastion, battlement, beam, bear-trap dam, beaver dam,
boom, breakwater, breastwork, brick wall, buffer, bulkhead,
bulwark, buttress, buttress pier, buttressing, casemate,
cheval-de-frise, circumvallation, cofferdam, contravallation,
counterscarp, curtain, dam, defence, defense, demibastion, dike,
ditch, drawbridge, earthwork, embankment, enclosure, entanglement,
escarp, escarpment, fence, fieldwork, flying buttress, fortalice,
fortification, gate, glacis, gravity dam, groin, guard,
hanging buttress, hydraulic-fill dam, iron curtain, jam, jetty,
jutty, leaping weir, levee, logjam, loophole, lunette,
machicolation, mantelet, merlon, milldam, moat, mole, mound,
outwork, palisade, parados, parapet, pier, pier buttress,
portcullis, postern gate, ravelin, redan, redoubt, retaining wall,
roadblock, rock-fill dam, sally port, scarp, sconce, seawall,
security, shoulder, shutter dam, stockade, stone wall, stronghold,
tenaille, vallation, vallum, wall, weir, wicket dam, work
Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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Rampart \Ram"part\, n. [F. rempart, OF. rempar, fr. remparer to
fortify, se remparer to fence or intrench one's self; re- re-
pref. + pref. en- (L. in) + parer to defend, parry, prepare,
L. parare to prepape. See Pare.]
1. That which fortifies and defends from assault; that which
secures safety; a defense or bulwark.
2. (Fort.) A broad embankment of earth round a place, upon
which the parapet is raised. It forms the substratum of
every permanent fortification. --Mahan.
Syn: Bulwark; fence; security; guard.
Usage: Rampart, Bulwark. These words were formerly
interchanged; but in modern usage a distinction has
sprung up between them. The rampart of a fortified
place is the enceinte or main embankment or wall which
surrounds it. The term bulwark is now applied to
peculiarly strong outworks which project for the
defense of the rampart, or main work. A single bastion
is a bulwark. In using these words figuratively,
rampart is properly applied to that which protects by
walling out; bulwark to that which stands in the
forefront of danger, to meet and repel it. Hence, we
speak of a distinguished individual as the bulwark,
not the rampart, of the state. This distinction,
however, is often disregarded.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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