Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A fortress in a commanding position in or near a city.
- n. A stronghold or fortified place; a bulwark.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A fortress or castle in or near a city, intended to keep the inhabitants in subjection, or, in case of a siege, to form a final refuge and point of defense: frequently used figuratively.
- n. Any strongly fortified post.
- n. Synonyms See fortification.
Wiktionary
- n. A strong fortress that sits high above a city.
- n. A stronghold or fortified place.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A fortress in or near a fortified city, commanding the city and fortifications, and intended as a final point of defense.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a stronghold into which people could go for shelter during a battle
Etymologies
- French citadelle, from Italian cittadella, diminutive of città, city, from Latin cīvitās; see city.
Examples
“In the original Persian text, the citadel is rendered as the Arg-i Kabul.”
Connecting Histories in Afghanistan: Market Relations and State Formation on a Colonial Frontier
“The citadel is warded against magical intrusion-we can't just 'pop' in and out, even if such a thing were easily possible.”
“The very famous and ancient Anglo-Saxon language, whose citadel is supposed to be confined to the charmed circle over which Bow Bells presides, is just about to conquer the continent of Australia, and I am inclined to think that the people who are fighting against it are fighting against fate.”
“The mosque in the citadel is rather disappointing.”
“I confess," replied Wallace, "that an armed citadel is not the most pleasant abode for a lady; but at present, excepting perhaps the church, it is the safest; and I would not advise your lady to remove hence, until the plain be made as free as this mountain.”
“The citadel is under the command of the baron of Auchinleck; he, with his brave followers, being the first to hail the burning of the accursed Barns of Ayr.”
“Its citadel is not within frail human flesh, or within the truest and noblest human heart.”
“The citadel is placed on a high steep rock which completely overlooks the town, but the whole is commanded by a ridge of hills within cannon-range of the citadel.”
“Those who dwell in my heart, which you call a citadel, enter by that road. ”
“A fortress brigade of elite fanatics holds this citadel, which is dug into the bedrock below, and protected above with reinforced concrete, and has all around fire from machine guns, cannon, mortars, and grenade throwers housed in steel turrets.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘citadel’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Fallacious Favourites
spurious, defunct, fungible, palimpsestic, lascivious, sliver, reiterate, efface, fiefdom, rambunctious, clamorous, verbatim and 4 more...
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fancy essay words
hiatus, ontology, exegesis, hermeneutics, dialectics, demiurge, ascertain, contention, eschatological, synecdoche, centripetal, centrifugal and 86 more...
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Attractive Words
These words look good to me. Feel free to add more attractive looking words.
sionnach I was just going to lure them into Les's helicopter for a little flight around the mall. Nov 10, 2008
bilby Shall we share the ending?
"The moon shining brilliantly seemed to favour the turkey folk against the fox. But he was no novice in the laying of sieges, and had recourse to his bag of rascally tricks. He pretended to climb the tree; stood upon his hind legs; counterfeited death; then came to life again. Harlequin himself could not have acted so many parts. He reared his tail and made it gleam in the moonshine, and practised a hundred other pleasantries, during which no turkey could have dared to go to sleep. The enemy tired them out at last by keeping their eyes fixed upon him. The poor birds became dazed. One lost its balance and fell. Reynard put it by. Then another fell and was caught and laid on one side. Nearly half of them at length succumbed and were taken off to the fox's larder.
To concentrate too much attention upon a danger may cause us to tumble into it." Nov 10, 2008
sionnach Vulpine vengeance shall be ours!
Reynard the cunning shall unleash the bloodtide of his wrath and none shall be spared until the barnyard be drenched incarnadine with the slaughter dew of the gobblerfowl.
Let the meleagrine mayhem begin. Nov 10, 2008
bilby "Some young turkeys were lucky enough to find a tree which served them as a citadel against the assaults of a certain fox. He, one night, having made the round of the rampart and seen each turkey watching like a sentinel, exclaimed, 'What! These people laugh at me, do they? And do they think that they alone are exempt from the common rule? No! by all the gods! no!'"
- Jean de la Fontaine, 'The Original Fables of La Fontaine'. Nov 10, 2008