circumvallation

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“
Then came the news of the circumvallation, and with it alarm.

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Definitions (2)

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  1. In fortification, the art or act of throwing up fortifications about a place, either for defense or attack; the line of works so formed. Specifically— A line of works thrown up to protect an investing or besieging army from attacks in the rear. A line of field-works consisting of a rampart or parapet with a trench, surrounding a besieged place or the camp of a besieging army. 3 August, at night, we rode about the lines of circumvallation, the Gener'll being then in the field. Evelyn, Diary, 1641. The wall of circumvallation round Paris, and the places by which we are to be let out and in, are nearly completed. Jefferson, Correspondence, II. 224. The besieging forces closed round [the place] … on every side, and the lines of circumvallation were rapidlyformed. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xxi.

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Examples (50)

  • They are four in number, commencing with the lines of circumvallation which enclose the promontory of Beachley; next, the camp and entrenchments on the high lands of Tidenham Chase; then, a camp near the Bearse Common; and, as a termination to the chain, the triple dyke defending Symmond's Yat. —  The Forest of Dean An Historical and Descriptive Account
  • How divinely it gleamed, with long, pale, steady rays, just inside the lines of circumvallation which he had so cunningly drawn about it! —  Earth's Enigmas A Volume of Stories
  • Starlight showed a rambling wall of circumvallation, with peaked roofs inside it. —  The Pirates of Ersatz
  • Then a regular siege of the city took place, and the lines of circumvallation were carried on, and sometimes occasional attacks were made by the townsmen on the Roman posts, and slight skirmishes took place: and the time was spent, no hope [of success] inclining to either side, whilst corn and other provisions were possessed in much greater abundance by the besieged than the besiegers from [the store] which had been previously laid in. —  The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08
  • Camillus at first prepared to surround them by lines of circumvallation, and to prosecute the siege by a mound and other works. —  The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08
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Etymologies (1)

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  1. = French circonvallation = Spanish circunvalacion = Portuguese circumvallação = Italian circonvallazione, from New Latin *circumvallatio (n-), from Latin circumvallare, wall around: see circumvallate, v.
 

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