Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A bridge-tower, gate-tower, outlying defense, or citadel.
  • noun In French history, a fortress used as a state prison.
  • noun Hence By extension, any prison, especially one conducted in an arbitrary or oppressive way.
  • noun A movable tower used by the besiegers of a strong place, whether for approaching the walls (see belfry) or as a defense and protection for the besiegers.
  • To confine in a bastile; imprison.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Feud. Fort.) A tower or an elevated work, used for the defense, or in the siege, of a fortified place.
  • noun “The Bastille”, formerly a castle or fortress in Paris, used as a prison, especially for political offenders; hence, a rhetorical name for a prison.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Obsolete form of bastille.

Etymologies

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