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Meaning & use

castle

noun, verb·Academic

Last updated

UK/ˈkɑːsəl/
US/ˈkæsəl/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable

    A large fortified building from earlier centuries, built for defense and often also used as a ruler's home.

    Grammar: Takes a plural castles; unlike palace, it strongly suggests walls, towers, and defense.

    Patterns

    • a medieval castle
    • castle walls
    • live in a castle

    The castle on the hill was built to guard the river crossing.

    Tourists walked along the old castle walls at sunset.

  2. nouncountableinformalsport

    In informal chess talk, a rook, the piece that moves in straight lines and looks like a small tower.

    Grammar: Chess players usually say rook in formal contexts; castle is common in casual description of the piece.

    Patterns

    • castle and king
    • move the castle
    • castle to...

    He moved his castle to the open file.

    Beginners often protect the king with both castle and pawns.

  3. verbintransitivesport

    In chess, to make the special move that moves the king toward a rook and places that rook on the other side.

    Grammar: No object; say castle on the king's/queen's side or castle early, not castle the king.

    Patterns

    • castle early
    • castle on the king's side
    • castle into safety

    She castled early to keep her king safer.

    He waited one move and then castled on the queen's side.

Word forms

pluralcastles
third person singularcastles
past tensecastled
past participlecastled
-ing formcastling

Common combinations

castle walls
Flowers grew between the castle walls.
ruined castle
A ruined castle stands above the fishing village.
castle in chess
In casual speech, some call the rook a castle in chess.
castle early
Many beginners are taught to castle early.

Synonyms and how they differ

fortress
Fortress stresses military defense more strongly and need not be a noble residence.
palace
Palace suggests a grand royal home but usually lacks the defensive purpose of a castle.
rook
Rook is the standard chess term for the piece sometimes informally called a castle.

Word family

castellated adjective
Having battlements like a castle.
castellan noun
A person in charge of a castle; now rare.

Commonly confused: castle or palace?

castle vs palace

Both are grand residences, but a castle is fortified for defense while a palace is mainly a showy home.

Practice

Which sentence uses castle as a building?

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