bulwark en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈbʊl.wɚk/ (US)
- /ˈbʊl.wək/ (Australia, Received-Pronunciation)
- bo͝ol'wərk (US)
- (US) audio
- /ˈbʉl.wəɹk/ (Northern-Ireland, Scotland)
Etymology
From Middle English bulwerk, from Middle Dutch bolwerk, bolwerc and Middle Low German bolwerk, equivalent to bole (“tree trunk”) + work. Cognate with German Bollwerk, Danish bolværk, Swedish bålverk, Dutch bolwerk. Doublet of boulevard (from French boulevard, from Dutch); cognate with Portuguese and Spanish baluarte and Italian baluardo.
Meanings
-
A defensive wall or rampart.
Let thouſands die, their ſlaughtered Carkaſſes Shal ſerue for walles and bulwarkes to the reſt:
c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:
-
A defense or safeguard.
The royal navy of England hath ever been its greatest defence, […] the floating bulwark of the island.
1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
- A breakwater.
-
The planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale that reduces the likelihood of seas washing over the gunwales and people being washed overboard.
Entering that gable-ended Spouter-Inn, you found yourself in a wide, low, straggling entry with old-fashioned wainscots, reminding one of the bulwarks of some condemned old craft.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 3, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 11:
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(figuratively) Any means of defence or security.
Willing to upend the nation’s postwar role as a bulwark against authoritarianism, he promises to usher in a foreign policy rooted in “America First” transactionalism.
2024 December 12, Eric Cortellessa, “Donald Trump 2024 TIME Person of the Year”, in Time, archived from the original on 22 Dec 2024:The party stalwarts constitute the bulwark that ensures the president's term of office.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| bulwarks | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (107)
cs hrazení (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · uk фальшборт (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · fi lisälaita (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · fi suojavalli (defensive wall or rampart) · fr rempart (defense or safeguard) · hy հողապատնեշ (defensive wall or rampart) · fa سنگر (defense or safeguard) · nl verschansing (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · fi varpe (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · pl szaniec (defensive wall or rampart) · it impavesata (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · ja 藩屛 (defense or safeguard) · hu bástya (defensive wall or rampart) · hu védőfal (defensive wall or rampart) · bg опо́ра (defense or safeguard) · pl wał (defensive wall or rampart) · sv bålverk (defensive wall or rampart) · ru опо́ра (defense or safeguard) · io remparo (defensive wall or rampart) · ca baluard (defense or safeguard) · nl bolwerk (defensive wall or rampart) · hy պաշտպանություն (defense or safeguard) · fr bastingage (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · mk за́штита (defense or safeguard) · nl verschansing (defense or safeguard) · sh razma (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · sh bastion (defensive wall or rampart) · bg бастио́н (defensive wall or rampart) · bg реду́т (defensive wall or rampart) · fr bastion (defense or safeguard) · fr rempart (defensive wall or rampart) · ast sobrecarel (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · got 𐍄𐌿𐌻𐌲𐌹𐌸𐌰 (defensive wall or rampart) · da bolværk (defensive wall or rampart) · pt amurada (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · gd mùr (defensive wall or rampart) · ru бастио́н (defensive wall or rampart) · ru реду́т (defensive wall or rampart) · tl balwarte (defensive wall or rampart) · no bolverk (defensive wall or rampart) · de Schanzkleid (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · uk захист (defense or safeguard) · bg защи́та (defense or safeguard) · is bolverk (defensive wall or rampart) · sh grudobran (defensive wall or rampart) · ru фальшбо́рт (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · da bolværk (defense or safeguard) · es baluarte (defense or safeguard) · fi suojamuuri (defensive wall or rampart) · fr pavois (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · ca murada (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · gd bàbhan (defensive wall or rampart) · hu védelem (defense or safeguard) · ckb سەنگەر (defensive wall or rampart) · mi papatū (defensive wall or rampart) · ja 堡塁 (defensive wall or rampart) · ru вал (defensive wall or rampart) · ca baluard (defensive wall or rampart) · hy պատվար (defense or safeguard) · fi varalaita (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · et kaitsevall (defensive wall or rampart) · uk оплот (defense or safeguard) · pt baluarte (defensive wall or rampart) · fi suojamuuri (defense or safeguard) · km ការការពារ (defense or safeguard) · fa بارو (defensive wall or rampart) · eo pavezo (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · ota قلعه دیواری حصار (defensive wall or rampart) · pt baluarte (defense or safeguard) · mk о́дбрана (defense or safeguard) · yi וואַל (defensive wall or rampart) · de Bollwerk (defensive wall or rampart) · de Bollwerk (defense or safeguard) · ckb سەنگەر (defense or safeguard) · bg фалшбо́рд (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · la arx (defense or safeguard) · mi rauawa (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · ru защи́та (defense or safeguard) · uk бастіон (defensive wall or rampart) · is bolvirki (defensive wall or rampart) · uk вал (defensive wall or rampart) · sh branik (defensive wall or rampart) · ar حِصْن (defensive wall or rampart) · sl branik (defensive wall or rampart) · cs val (defensive wall or rampart) · hy բաստիոն (defensive wall or rampart) · uk опора (defense or safeguard) · eo remparo (defensive wall or rampart) · es amurada (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · es baluarte (defensive wall or rampart) · ga bábhún (defensive wall or rampart) · mk бастио́н (defensive wall or rampart) · ru опло́т (defense or safeguard) · mi pākai (defensive wall or rampart) · sh bedem (defensive wall or rampart) · ast falopiu (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · non bolvirki (defensive wall or rampart) · km កំពែង (defensive wall or rampart) · it baluardo (defensive wall or rampart) · nrf boulevard (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · hu védfal (defensive wall or rampart) · cs záštita (defense or safeguard) · nl schans (defense or safeguard) · mk на́сип (defensive wall or rampart) · mk бе́дем (defensive wall or rampart) · ca orla (nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale) · la agger (defensive wall or rampart)