noun

• A large artificial bank of soil, especially one used as a fortification.

  ‘Bronze Age earthworks’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The earthworks of the Neolithic henge comprise a 2 m. high bank with a 2 m. deep ditch.’
  • ‘By his time only some of the earthworks, and the outer defence that was part of the city wall, survived.’
  • ‘It is not known whether there were similar earthworks around the southern settlements; archaeology has failed to find clear evidence of such.’
  • ‘They are also reminiscent of ancient earthworks by Native American cultures, making each timeless regardless of their temporary nature.’
  • ‘On opposite sides of the Manawapou River mouth the earthworks of Thacker's and Inman's redoubts can also still be seen and just south of the town the Okautiro redoubt.’
  • ‘Walk along the path enclosed by old metal railings, through a metal kissing gate then head straight up the hillside to reach a tumbledown wall and the earthworks of Bank Slack.’
  • ‘Studies show the crabs can also cause serious damage by burrowing into banks and earthworks along rivers.’
  • ‘In the most Belgicized areas, hill forts tended to give way to large settlements on lower ground, sometimes with their approaches defended by great running earthworks.’
  • ‘In many other cases, evidence of masonry features or earthworks allows us to appreciate that the structures of urban castles embodied the architecture of authority.’
  • ‘Most of these sites survive not as impressive ruins, but as the grassed-over remains of slumped earthworks formerly supporting timber structures.’
  • ‘The massive earthworks, 15 m. thick, still stand to a height of 3 m. and are pierced by three original entrances.’
  • ‘When the massive inner earthworks were added, with only two entrances, they enclosed an arena separated from the outside world by an imposing barrier.’
  • ‘The survey team rediscovered the earthworks, reviving the possibility that a 16th century fort may still exist on the Norfolk coast.’
  • ‘Great care was taken as the board envisaged disastrous results if the earthworks collapsed and released a wall of water upon New Plymouth.’
  • ‘Approximately twelve thousand men lived in huts, and an outer and inner line of defensive earthworks were built.’
  • ‘Some 1400 kilometres of earthworks need to be completed before it can take the ballast, sleepers and rails.’
  • ‘The castle dates back to c 1180, but is also thought to incorporate earlier Anglo-Saxon earthworks.’
  • ‘The more powerful it was, the longer and heavier the trains it could pull, but the more substantial its rails and earthworks had to be to carry it.’
  • ‘Nineteenth century map-makers had a feeling there was something more to the area when they spotted the remains of Iron Age earthworks during an Ordnance Survey expedition.’
  • ‘Up on the hill, the Americans pulled back, abandoning the earthworks and the Breed's Hill Fort to the oncoming attack.’

  Synonyms

  slope, rise, incline, gradient, ramp, acclivity, tump