cheval de frise
Pronunciation
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ʃəˈvɑːl də ˈfɹiːs/
cheval de frise
- (military) An obstacle made of wood with spikes, for use against attacking cavalry.
- 1878, "Colorado", Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. VI, p. 162:
- The mountains of Colorado were, till a comparatively recent date, richly clothed with forest; but owing partly to natural causes, and still more to the lavish consumption and reckless destruction of the early settlers, the quantity of growing timber in the State is exceedingly small, and before long, if restorative measures are not adopted, the Colorado demand for wood will require to be supplied from without. Whole mountain sides often present the appearance of monstrous cheavaux-de-frise, the dead trunks of the wind-thrown pines being tossed about in all directions.
- 1878, "Colorado", Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. VI, p. 162:
- Protective row of spikes or broken glass set into the top of a wall and used to prevent intrusion.
- (archaic, fashion) The jagged edge of 18th-century women's clothing.
- German: spanische Reiter, friesische Reiter (archaic)
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003