Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In architecture: A portion projecting from the face; of a wall; a buttress.
- noun In medieval milit. arch., a redoubt or an intrenchment thrown up by the besiegers of a place as a defense against sorties or attempts to relieve the place from without.
- noun A spur or projecting part of a mountain.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Fort.) A kind of buttress of masonry to strengthen a revetment wall.
- noun A spur or projection of a mountain.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
buttress built against awall . - noun A
spur orprojection of amountain .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The term "counterfort" is used when the projection is on the inside.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 3: Brownson-Clairvaux 1840-1916 1913
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These forms were built full height in 16-ft. sections with a counterfort coming at the center of each section.
Concrete Construction Methods and Costs Halbert Powers Gillette
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Each counterfort extended back 16 ft. and was 4 ft. thick for a height of 6 ft. and then 3 ft.
Concrete Construction Methods and Costs Halbert Powers Gillette
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~ -- The dam was in the shape of an L with one side 192 ft. and the other side 208 ft. long; it consists of a wall 30½ ft. high, 3½ ft. wide at the top and 6½ ft. wide at the bottom with a counterfort every 16 ft., 26 in all.
Concrete Construction Methods and Costs Halbert Powers Gillette
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Thus when an arch is built to bear against an upright wall, a buttress or other counterfort is applied in a direction opposed to the pressure of the arch.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" Various
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Baccio thither; and he, making a very stout counterfort on the side of the plain, rendered that marvellous fabric perfectly secure.
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects Vol. 03 (of 10), Filarete and Simone to Mantegna Giorgio Vasari 1542
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