schantze

plural schantzes · alternative schanze

1. obsoleteA type of stone fortification.

   At 7 a.m. they opened fire upon the long lines of schantzes which dotted every crestline and were the only visible sign of the enemy's presence.

   1901, Foster Hugh Egerton Cunliffe, The History of the Boer War to the Occupation of Bloemfontein

   4 more examples

   After proceeding some distance — about three miles this side of Norton's farm — the advance scouts were fired on from schantzes in a kopje adjoining the road.

   1898, Reports on the Native Disturbances in Rhodesia, 1896-97, page 102

   Round the dome the insurgents had built little stone schantzes, and each had a dull brown stain behind it; round about lay a few cartridge-cases and old rags.

   1905, John L. C. Booth, Troubles in the Balkans, page 184

   In 1907 the defendant erected a schantze or stone weir inside his boundary so as to confine the water to the former course, and to prevent it coming on to his land at times of ordinary flood.

   1908, South African Law Journal, volume 25, page 57

   With wonderful speed and dexterity, each marksman built himself a tiny schantze of stones on the edge of the plateau, and stretched himself behind it, fondling his rifle and twitching his bandolier into an easy position.

   1913, John Finnemore, A Boy Scout in the Balkans