trou-de-loup

[ trood-l-oo ]
noun,plural trous-de-loup [trood-l-oo]. /ˌtrud lˈu/. Military.

  1. a conical or pyramidal pit with a pointed stake fixed vertically in the center, rows of which are dug in front of a fortification to hinder an enemy's approach, formerly used chiefly against cavalry.

Origin of trou-de-loup

1
1780–90; <French: literally, wolf hole

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use trou-de-loup in a sentence

  • The Roxbury road ran through a narrow passage between two bastions of earth, surrounded with a heavy abatis and trous de loup.

    Cardigan | Robert W. Chambers

  • Military pits or trous de loup are excavations in the shape of an inverted cone or pyramid, with a pointed stake in the bottom.

  • Beyond the two ditches, were trous-de-loup, or wolf-traps, from twenty to seventy feet apart.

    Cuba | Arthur D. Hall

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