Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A steep slope or cliff; an escarpment.
- noun The inner wall of a ditch or trench dug around a fortification.
- transitive verb To cause to form a steep slope.
- transitive verb To furnish with an escarp.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In fortification, to slope; give a slope to.
- noun In fortification, that side of a ditch surrounding a rampart which is nearest to the rampart: the opposite of
counterscarp .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Fort.) The side of the ditch next the parapet; -- same as
scarp , and opposed tocounterscarp . - transitive verb (Mil.) To make into, or furnish with, a steep slope, like that of a scrap.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To make into, or furnish with, a
steep slope , like that of ascarp .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a steep artificial slope in front of a fortification
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word escarp.
Examples
-
The extreme westerly escarp of these hills bore 17° E. of N., so that nothing was likely to impede the continued course of our friendly river in the direction we wished.
Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia 2003
-
The second property belonging to the Lourens Trust has 3 km of sea frontage plus magnificent ocean vistas from a dune escarp inland.
-
He swerved to swim downriver, wanting to explore the section that brushed - the escarp - ment.
Robot Adept Anthony, Piers 1988
-
Could they hope to climb to the top of the escarp - ment?
Witch World Norton, Andre 1963
-
The ladders were immediately seized by their comrades, who, after one or two vain attempts, succeeded in placing them against the escarp.
Forty-one years in India From Subaltern To Commander-In-Chief Frederick Sleigh Roberts
-
More ladders were brought up, they were thrown into the ditch, and our men, leaping into it, raised them against the escarp on the other side.
Forty-one years in India From Subaltern To Commander-In-Chief Frederick Sleigh Roberts
-
The motive power is gunpowder, and the article to be produced is perhaps a hole in an armor-plate, perhaps a breach in a concealed escarp, or perhaps destructive effect on troops.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 324, March 18, 1882 Various
-
After the first week, Lieut. Shaw took these over and also mounted additional guns in secret emplacements, which were constructed by digging through the escarp and tunnelling forward and upward.
The 28th: A Record of War Service in the Australian Imperial Force, 1915-19, Vol. I Egypt, Gallipoli, Lemnos Island, Sinai Peninsula Herbert Brayley Collett 1912
-
The eastern front has an escarp fourteen feet high cut in the lava, and well flanked by the
The Life of Gordon, Volume I Demetrius Charles Boulger 1890
-
They have no ditches, but an escarp of ten feet in the lava.
The Life of Gordon, Volume I Demetrius Charles Boulger 1890
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.