as in embankment
a raised bank or wall made of soil
—usually plural
prehistoric earthworks
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Recent Examples of earthwork
Kyiv has been struggling to boost military recruitment, stiffen its forces’ defensive earthworks, reform archaic command staffs and boost the output of Ukrainian arms factories.
—
David Axe, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2024
The building process included extensive earthworks for support during assembly, later dismantled to reveal the finished form.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2024
This technique minimizes earthwork and avoids damaging tree roots.
—New Atlas, 23 Mar. 2025
Effigy Mounds preserves 200 or so prehistoric earthworks that were built by pre-Columbian people.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for earthwork
David Axe, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2024
The building process included extensive earthworks for support during assembly, later dismantled to reveal the finished form.
—Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Oct. 2024
This technique minimizes earthwork and avoids damaging tree roots.
—New Atlas, 23 Mar. 2025
Effigy Mounds preserves 200 or so prehistoric earthworks that were built by pre-Columbian people.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 19 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for earthwork
Recent Examples of Synonyms for earthwork
Noun
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Footage showed the mangled wreckage on an embankment on the side of the highway.—
Anthony Solorzano,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Apr. 2025
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Beltram’s truck hit their car, sending it down an embankment, crushing the passenger side compartment of the car, according to the District Attorney’s Office.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacbee.com,
3 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Perhaps halfway up to the crest which forms the ramparts of the Mule Shoe was a jutting bastion of orange-colored rock.—
Frank C. Hibben,
Outdoor Life,
27 Feb. 2025
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The 18th-century ramparts encircling the city are free to climb and boast dramatic ocean views.—
Livia Hengel,
Forbes,
26 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Dams and levees lead to less frequent flooding, but erosion and deforestation mean more catastrophic floods when these barriers are breached.—
Nikil Saval,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
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Image Most of the storm’s damage so far has been caused by floodwaters that overtopped riverbanks and levees, surged through streets and inundated the basements and ground floors of buildings.—
Patrick J. Lyons,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Studies of dams in Brazil show that deforestation caused by the dams reduce their potential for power generation by up to 10%, which while sounding modest, means for one plant, lost revenue of $21 million.—
Suwanna Gauntlett Upjohn,
Forbes.com,
17 Apr. 2025
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Its leaders agreed to build the dam six feet higher so that the reservoir had enough space to store 5,000 acre-feet of water to be used for environmental health purposes on South Boulder Creek, which flows out of the bottom of the dam.—
Elise Schmelzer,
Denver Post,
16 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The fifth season, then, premiered in the noxious contrail of the Dobbs decision, which silenced those who believed a 1973 Supreme Court case could serve as a permanent finger in the political dike.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Apr. 2025
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Miss Maynard’s class is building Holland on a small scale in one of their sandbox tables with dikes, towers, windmills, boys with wooden shoes and girls with flaxen hair.—
Contributed Content,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Its first civil works project in the Philadelphia region was the construction of a breakwater near Cape Henlopen, Delaware, in 1829.—
Todd Aagaard,
The Conversation,
3 Apr. 2025
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SailGP saw 12 teams on one start line for the first time Saturday, and within the confines of the breakwater in the Port of Los Angeles, the racetrack would be congested, possibly the tightest yet seen.—
Andrew Rice,
The Athletic,
16 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Anything can happen between now and 2029, but the threat to one of traditional TV’s last remaining bulwarks is about as real—and potentially devastating—as an old-school forearm shiver to the jaw.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
4 Apr. 2025
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Furthermore, Reuters reported in February that Israel was actively lobbying the U.S. not to pressure Russia to withdraw from Syria, arguing the Russian military’s vastly diminished presence in Syria serves as a necessary bulwark against further Turkish expansion there.—
Paul Iddon,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The Spanish immediately recognized the importance of the canal network.—
Ari Caramanica,
The Conversation,
8 Apr. 2025
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The money was intended to help build three structures on canals and basins in North Miami-Dade and Broward counties to improve flood mitigation.—
Jeffrey Schweers,
The Orlando Sentinel,
11 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Earthwork.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/earthwork. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.
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