battleworks

B3A1T1T1L1E1W4O1R1K5S1

noun

Protective infrastructure erected to protect weapons and soldiers during battle.

OriginEnglish works ← Middle English batayle ← Old French bataille →
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Meanings

nounbattleworks pl (plural only)
  1. pluralplural onlyProtective infrastructure erected to protect weapons and soldiers during battle.

    "I know what's inside the battleworks," she said. "The biggest, harshest weapons in existence, I know. ..."

    2014, Robert Reed, The Memory of Sky, →ISBN
    2 more examples

    Hearst had his little fingers on Mrs Tovey's ample waist, on what felt through the silk like an ironclad's battleworks.

    1961, William Sansom, The last hours of Sandra Lee, page 195

    The horizon of heaven is felt as a metal battleworks deflecting the arrows of prayer that are sent to soar as pleas for some castle-master's help for forgiveness: My prayer must meet a brazen heaven And fail and scatter all away.

    1996, David Anthony Downes, Hopkins' achieved self, page 156

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰedʰh₂-
  2. Latinbattuō
  3. Late Latinbattālia
  4. Old Frenchbataille
  5. Middle Englishbatayle
  6. Englishbattle
  7. Englishworks
  8. Englishbattleworks

From battle + works.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

battleworks. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/battleworks

MLA

“battleworks.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/battleworks. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “battleworks,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/battleworks.

Source: battleworks on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.