Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A pit or short trench in front of an army, fort, etc., generally about 4 feet long and 3 feet deep, with the earth thrown up in front so as to afford cover to two skirmishers.
Etymologies
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Examples
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Afterward he remembered especially one afternoon of such a fresh and magic glamour that as he stood in the rifle-pit marking targets he recited “Atalanta in Calydon” to an uncomprehending
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In a rifle-pit, on the brow of a hill overlooking the river, near
Memories A Record of Personal Experience and Adventure During Four Years of War Fannie A. Beers
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There was a shallow trench before we came to the cornfield, too narrow for a road, as I should think, too elevated for a water-course, and which seemed to have been used as a rifle-pit; at any rate, there had been hard fighting in and about it.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 62, December, 1862 Various
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They know what it is to stand motionless in a wet and miry rifle-pit in the chilly rain of a southern winter's night.
Hidden Treasures Or, Why Some Succeed While Others Fail Harry A. Lewis
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The trenches below me on White Boulders 'front face, which had been unoccupied during the early portion of the day, now began to swarm with riflemen, whose weapons kept up a continuous roll, swelled from many a rifle-pit and redoubt away forward from the base of the elevation.
Under the Dragon Flag My Experiences in the Chino-Japanese War James Allan
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We took, in these two redoubts, four more guns, making, in all, five for our regiment, two redoubts, and part of a rifle-pit as our day's work.
History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880. Vol. 2 (of 2) Negroes as Slaves, as Soldiers, and as Citizens George Washington Williams
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Afterward he remembered especially one afternoon of such a fresh and magic glamour that as he stood in the rifle-pit marking targets he recited "Atalanta in Calydon" to an uncomprehending Pole, his voice mingling with the rip, sing, and splatter of the bullets overhead.
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In a rifle-pit, on the brow of a hill near Fredericksburg, were a number of Confederate soldiers who had exhausted their ammunition in the vain attempt to check the advancing column of Hooker's finely equipped and disciplined army which was crossing the river.
Good Stories for Holidays Frances Jenkins Olcott 1917
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IN a rifle-pit, on the brow of a hill near Fredericksburg, were a number of Confederate soldiers who had exhausted their ammunition in the vain attempt to check the advancing column of Hooker's finely equipped and disciplined army which was crossing the river.
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It was a natural rifle-pit affording him seclusion and shelter.
Overland Red A Romance of the Moonstone Cañon Trail Henry Herbert Knibbs 1909
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