Meanings
plural earthworks
- Any structure made from earth, especially an embankment used for fortification or flood control.
At the moment only some 35 miles of earthwork have been completed from Qum, and no permanent way has been laid.
1946 July and August, “The Railways of Persia”, in Railway Magazine, page 2081 more example
The line was built by navvies using little more than wheelbarrows and shovels, with whatever material was close at hand, and the railway suffered from earthworks problems right from the start.
2022 July 13, Paul Clifton, “Network News: Fareham Tunnel blockade aids landslip prevention”, in RAIL, number 961, page 32Synonyms: earthenwork, vallation
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny structure made from earth, especially an embankment used for fortification or flood control.
Origin
From earth + work. First attested in the 1630s.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 土方工程
- 土方工程 (tǔfāng gōngchéng)structure made from earth
Finnish maavalli
- maavallistructure made from earth
German Erdarbeit
- Erdarbeitstructure made from earth
Italian montarozzo, terrapieno
- montarozzostructure made from earth
- terrapienostructure made from earth
Māori maioro
- maiorostructure made from earth
Polish wał ziemny, szaniec
- wał ziemnystructure made from earth
- szaniecstructure made from earth
Cite this entry
earthwork. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earthwork
“earthwork.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earthwork. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “earthwork,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/earthwork.
Source: earthwork on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.