earthwork

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earth·work

(ûrth′wûrk′)

1. An earthen embankment, especially one used as a fortification. See Synonyms at bulwark.

2. Engineering Excavation and embankment of earth.

3. A work of art made by altering an area of land or a natural geographic feature, especially on a large scale.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

earthwork

(ˈɜːθˌwɜːk)

1. (Mining & Quarrying) excavation of earth, as in engineering construction

2. (Fortifications) a fortification made of earth

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

earth•work

(ˈɜrθˌwɜrk)

n.

1. excavation and piling of earth in an engineering operation.

2. a military construction formed chiefly of earth for protection against enemy fire.

3. an artistic work that consists of a large-scale modification of an area of land by an artist.

[1625–35]

earthwork

An embankment of earth constructed as a fortification.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

earthwork - an earthen rampart

bulwark, rampart, wall - an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes; "they stormed the ramparts of the city"; "they blew the trumpet and the walls came tumbling down"

sconce - a small fort or earthwork defending a ford, pass, or castle gate

Translations

terrapieno

earthwork

[ˈɜːθwɜːk] N → terraplén m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

earthwork

[ˈɜːθˌwɜːk] n (Mil) → terrapieno

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

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References in classic literature ?

It was pleasant and quiet, out there with the sails on the river passing beyond the earthwork, and sometimes, when the tide was low, looking as if they belonged to sunken ships that were still sailing on at the bottom of the water.

One Sunday when Joe, greatly enjoying his pipe, had so plumed himself on being "most awful dull," that I had given him up for the day, I lay on the earthwork for some time with my chin on my hand, descrying traces of Miss Havisham and Estella all over the prospect, in the sky and in the water, until at last I resolved to mention a thought concerning them that had been much in my head.

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She heard the shrill whistle of alarm, the beaten drum; she saw the spade exchanged for the rifle, and the long line of toilers disappear behind the natural earthwork which their labours had created.

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Several battalions of soldiers, in their shirt sleeves despite the cold wind, swarmed in these earthworks like a host of white ants; spadefuls of red clay were continually being thrown up from behind the bank by unseen hands.

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Great anxiety prevails in West Surrey, and earthworks are being thrown up to check the advance Londonward." That was how the Sunday SUN put it, and a clever and remarkably prompt "handbook" article in the REFEREE compared the affair to a menagerie suddenly let loose in a village.

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We have moved forward across his earthworks, across which we have so often vainly attempted to move before, through the debris of his abandoned camps, among the graves of his fallen, into the woods beyond.

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Just outside, soldiers were engaged in throwing up earthworks. It was evident to the least enlightened that Menelek expected further reverses.

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As the required earthwork cut-and-fill volume is about 1.8 million cu m, the 'surface mining' technique was chosen as the preferred method to remove earthwork materials in order to meet the schedule and cost requirements of this project.

Alba Line 6 construction works under way

As the required earthwork cut and fill volume is about 1.8 million m3, the 'Surface Mining' was chosen as the preferred method to remove earthwork materials in order to meet the schedule and cost requirements of this project.