Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In fortification, the exterior talus or slope of the ditch, or the talus that supports the earth of the covered way.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Fort.) The exterior slope or wall of the ditch; -- sometimes, the whole covered way, beyond the ditch, with its parapet and glacis.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The outer
slope of a defensive or fortifiedditch
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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The counterscarp is substantially built of plank, and spread with turf.
Fort Moultrie 1861
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Why, the old Peer, pox of his tough constitution, (for that malady would have helped him on,) has made shift by fire and brimstone, and the devil knows what, to force the gout to quit the counterscarp of his stomach, just as it had collected all its strength, in order to storm the citadel of his heart.
Clarissa Harlowe 2006
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I take advantage of this to sidle down the second counterscarp, but by the time the ditch is reached the lull reveals itself to be but the precursor of a storm.
A Changed Man 2006
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Immediately within this a chasm gapes; its bottom is imperceptible, but the counterscarp slopes not too steeply to admit of a sliding descent if cautiously performed.
A Changed Man 2006
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It is a little insignificant pettah, defended simply by a couple of gabions, a very ordinary counterscarp, and a bomb-proof embrasure.
Burlesques 2006
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We passed the demilune, we passed the culverin, bayoneting the artillerymen at their guns; we advanced across the two tremendous demilunes which flank the counterscarp, and prepared for the final spring upon the citadel.
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We passed the demilune, we passed the culverin, bayoneting the artillerymen at their guns; we advanced across the two tremendous demilunes which flank the counterscarp, and prepared for the final spring upon the citadel.
Burlesques 2006
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We rambled for a while through the covered way, over the glacis and along the counterscarp, and listened to the guide as he detailed to us, in already accustomed words, how the siege had gone.
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I would throw out the earth upon this hand towards the town for the scarp, — and on that hand towards the campaign for the counterscarp. —
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The completion was no further off, than the very next morning; which was that of the storm of the counterscarp betwixt the Lower
minerva commented on the word counterscarp
Why, the old peer, pox of his tough constitution! (for that would have helped him on,) has made shift by fire and brimstone, and the devil knows what, to force the gout to quit the counterscarp of his stomach, just as it had collected all its strength in order to storm the citadel of his heart.
Lovelace to Belford, Clarissa by Samuel Richardson
January 4, 2008
yarb commented on the word counterscarp
...she had disappeared amid the scaffolding--the scaffold--as if it might once have been the glacis of the fort itself, down from the forgotten counterscarp of a dream.
- Malcolm Lowry, October Ferry to Gabriola
July 30, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word counterscarp
Outer slope of a defensive ditch.
August 24, 2008