Word of the Day

Saturday, July 04, 2009

rampart

\ram-pahrt\ , noun;

A fortification consisting of an embankment, often with a parapet built on top.

A means of protection or defense; a bulwark.

verb:

To defend with a rampart.

Read the full entry|See synonyms|Comment on today's word

Quotes:

To stand upon ramparts and die for our principles is heroic, but to sally forth to battle and win for our principles is something more than heroic.

-- Franklin D. Roosevelt,

Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
As his corpse to the rampart we hurried.

-- Charles Wolfe, The Burial of Sir John Moore

There is no rampart that will hold out against malice.

-- Moliere,

Origin:

Rampart derives from Middle French remparer, equivalent to re + emparer "to take the possesion of."