Embankment

Definitions

a long mound of earth, stone, or similar material, usually built for purposes such as to hold back or store water, for protection from weather or enemies, or to support a road or railway.

Equivalents

Examples

“The work⟳ to be done under these specifications consists in furnishing all materials and erecting a stone embankment, an earth embankment, and a wharf. The stone embankment will contain⟳ about 216,000 tons of stone; the earth embankment about 285,000 cubic yards of broken stone, sand, or other suitable material; and the wharf will contain⟳ 501,320 feet of timber, and 802 piles, together with the requisite quantity of cast⟳ iron⟳ mooring bits, wrought iron⟳ spikes, bolts, etc.”

“Sink⟳ a trench so the pipe of your water-works will be below ground; have⟳ the pump and the mules which work⟳ it at such a point⟳ and so defended by an epaulement or traverse, or some other defensive embankment, as to shield them.”

“For thousands of years, societies have⟳ stored water, altered river flow⟳, and transformed environments to increase⟳ food production or achieve⟳ other social or economic goals. The oldest known dam, a small earth embankment structure⟳ built about six thousand years ago at Jawa in present-day Jordan, was designed to capture⟳ rainfall and increase⟳ agricultural production.”

CEFR level