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Meaning & use

rampart

noun·Advancedliterary

Last updated

UK/ˈræmpɑːt/
US/ˈræmpɑːrt/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable

    A wide defensive wall of earth or stone around a castle or town, often with a walkway on top.

    Grammar: Often plural: the city's ramparts.

    Patterns

    • on the ramparts
    • the ramparts of something

    Guards walked along the ramparts at night.

    Tourists climbed the castle ramparts.

    Flags flew from the ramparts.

  2. nouncountablefigurativeliterary

    Something that protects or defends, in a figurative sense.

    Grammar: Figurative and literary, usually with against.

    Patterns

    • a rampart against something

    The treaty was a rampart against invasion.

    Law is a rampart against tyranny.

    Education is a rampart against ignorance.

Word forms

pluralramparts

Common combinations

castle ramparts
Ivy covered the castle ramparts.
man the ramparts
Soldiers manned the ramparts.
scale the ramparts
Attackers tried to scale the ramparts.
rampart against
A rampart against disease.

Synonyms and how they differ

bulwark
Bulwark is often figurative, stressing something that defends.
fortification
Fortification is a general word for any defensive structure.
parapet
A parapet is the low wall at the edge of the rampart.
bastion
A bastion is a projecting part of a fortress.

Word family

embattled adjective
surrounded by fighting

Commonly confused: rampart or rampant?

rampart vs rampant

Rampant means spreading uncontrolled; it is unrelated to walls.

Practice

Guards stood on the ramparts. Where were they?

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