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bulwark

noun
/ˈbʊl.wək/UK/ˈbʊl.wɚk/US/ˈbʉl.wəɹk/

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.

  1. derived from bolwerk
  2. derived from bolwerk
  3. inherited from bulwerk

Definitions

  1. A defensive wall or rampart.

    • Let thouſands die, their ſlaughtered Carkaſſes Shal ſerue for walles and bulwarkes to the reſt:

  2. A defense or safeguard.

    • The royal navy of England hath ever been its greatest defence, […] the floating bulwark of the island.

  3. A breakwater.

  4. ›+ 4 more definitions

    1. The planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale that…

      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.

    2. Any means of defence or security.

      • The party stalwarts constitute the bulwark that ensures the president's term of office.
      • 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.

    3. To fortify something with a wall or rampart.

    4. To provide protection of defense for something.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at bulwark. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01bulwark02defensive03risk04negative05test06hearth07wall08rampart

A definitional loop anchored at bulwark. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at bulwark

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA