Meaning & use
Bastille
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Meanings
proper nounproper
The fortress and prison in Paris whose storming by a crowd in 1789 began the French Revolution.
Grammar: Usually with the: the Bastille was stormed in July 1789.
Patterns
- the storming of the Bastille
The crowd stormed the Bastille on July 14, 1789.
Our history teacher showed a painting of the Bastille.
The Bastille was torn down soon after the Revolution began.
nouncountableliteraryrare
A fortified building used as a prison, or any place that holds people against their will.
Grammar: Often lowercase in this general sense: the old bastille on the hill.
The thick walls made the old castle a bastille.
He described the office as a bastille he longed to escape.
Critics called the detention center a modern bastille.
Word forms
| plural | bastilles |
|---|
Common combinations
- storm the Bastille
- The crowd marched to storm the Bastille.
- fall of the Bastille
- The fall of the Bastille shocked European rulers.
- Bastille Day
- Paris holds a large parade on Bastille Day.
- prisoner in the Bastille
- He was a prisoner in the Bastille for years.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- Bastille Day noun
- the French national holiday on July 14
- bastion noun
- a strong defensive position, from a similar root
Commonly confused: Bastille or bastion?
Bastille vs bastion
A bastion is a strong defensive part of a fortress or a defender of an idea; the Bastille is a particular prison in Paris.
Practice
The French Revolution is often said to have begun when a crowd stormed the ____ in 1789.
Choose one answer.
The Bastille was the prison attacked on July 14, 1789. Versailles was the royal palace, so it is the tempting wrong choice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Bastille”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.