Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A facing, as of masonry, used to support an embankment.
- n. A barricade against explosives.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In fortification, a facing to a wall or bank. as of a scarp or parapet; a retaining wall (which see, under retaining). In permanent works the revetment is usually of masonry; in field-works it may be of sods, gabions, timber, hurdles, etc.
- n. In civil engineering, a retaining wall or breastwall; also, any method of protecting banks or the sides of a cut to preserve them from erosion, as the sheathing of a river-bank with mats, screens, or mattresses.
- n. In architecture, any facing of stone, metal, or wood over a less sightly or durable substance or construction.
Wiktionary
- n. A layer of stone, concrete, or other hard material supporting the side of an embankment.
- n. An armoured building that provides protection against bombs.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A facing of wood, stone, or any other material, to sustain an embankment when it receives a slope steeper than the natural slope; also, a retaining wall.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a barrier against explosives
- n. a facing (usually masonry) that supports an embankment
Examples
“Commonly known as a revetment, the mini seawall would be made of concrete and rocks covered with vegetation.”
“The last sentry in the forest was in the same kind of revetment as the pair had been.”
Alector's Choice
“The $50 million to $100 million projection includes some kind of revetment project, or something to keep the sea from reclaiming the roadway in case of a smaller-scale storm.”
“These frames were normally finished in silver and gold revetment, where every inch was meticulously embedded with patterns of holy ornamentation—crosses, diadems, faces, and so on.”
“The revetment, the gilded outer frame, was deeply marked in places.”
“The white Learjet 45 touched down in Marseille and taxied to a revetment area near the General Aviation building.”
“Seconds later his feet hit the ground and he was staring at the concrete revetment wall at the bottom.”
“It boasted an impressive five-meter-high concrete revetment skirt at the base.”
“The top of the revetment wall formed a tiny ledge at the base of the brick wall above.”
“The bricks that spill down to the ground will create a slope that will enable you to climb over the lower revetment wall and into the city.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘revetment’.
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defense
shield, aegis, armor, cuirass, plastron, inured, reinforced, cataphract, proof, targus, buckler, shield bearer and 123 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
tallpaul Found in the poem 'Sea-Fret' by Robert Robertson from his collection Swithering
'percussive waves
crash and recoil
at the base of the cliff,
slow and attritional
under the east salient,
scathing the stone revetment'
The poem describes a gun emplacement/fortification at Tynemouth Priory, so here the word carries echoes of both its meanings. Else where Robertson uses words echoing to tie the modern secular usage and the ancient religious usage of the site together. See Claustral Dec 6, 2006