bulwark
pronunciation
How to pronounce bulwark in British English:
UK [ˈbʊlwək]
How to pronounce bulwark in American English:
US [ˈbʊlwɜrk]
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- Noun:
- an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes
- a fence-like structure around a deck
- a protective structure of stone or concrete; extends from shore into the water to prevent a beach from washing away
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- Verb:
- defend with a bulwark
Word Origin
- bulwark
- bulwark: [15] Bulwark comes from Middle High German bolwerc ‘fortification’, a compound formed from bole ‘plank’ (the same word as English bole ‘tree trunk’) and werc, equivalent to English work. It thus originally meant ‘rampart constructed out of planks or tree trunks’. The word was shared by other Germanic languages, including Swedish bolverk, and French borrowed it as boullewerc, which has since become boulevard.=> bole, boulevard, work
- bulwark (n.)
- "planking or woodwork round the uppermost parts of a vessel," early 15c., from Middle Dutch bulwerke or Middle High German bolwerc, probably from bole "plank, tree trunk" (from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell;" see bole) + werc "work" (see work (n.)). Figurative sense "means of defense or security" is from 1570s.
Example
- 1. He was a bulwark against further blairite defections .
- 2. Many of them see the army as a bulwark against bearded hordes .
- 3. The institution that sees itself as the bulwark against worsening chaos has always been the army .
- 4. The bulwark against populism could buckle if there is yet another round of brinkmanship and bargaining .
- 5. The bloodless politics of brussels , once a bulwark against extremism , has now become an obstacle .