Breastwork

Definitions

1. A fortification consisting of a breast-high bulwark; a parapet.
2. A railing on the quarter-deck and forecastle.
3. A parapet.
4. Breast augmentation.
   slang

Equivalents

Examples

“Before long we had flung enough sand-bags into place⟳ to make⟳ a low breastwork behind which the few men who were on this side of the position could lie⟳ down and fire.”

“A cannonproof breastwork, built during the previous war, extended along the beach from the hills to the rocks.”

“The Independencia is a two-turreted, breastwork ship of 9,000 tons displacement. […] The central breastwork is 130 feet in length at the top of the belt, and extends to the upper deck, 11 feet above the water-line. This breastwork incloses the boiler and engine hatches, the scuttles to magazines and shell-rooms, the principal openings for ventilation, and the two turrets.”

“A swarthy boy opened a book and propped it nimbly under the breastwork of his satchel. He recited jerks of verse with odd glances at the text: […]”

CEFR level