as in embankment
a raised bank or wall made of soil
—usually plural
prehistoric earthworks
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Recent Examples of earthwork
In the 1970s, Smithson began making earthworks, the art pieces that would define his career.
—
Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Dec. 2024
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 county's history dates back even further, though. Pre-colonization, Fort Ancient, a 2,000-year-old earthworks site and nature preserve, was built by Indigenous people for ceremonial purposes.
—Erin Couch, The Enquirer, 27 Oct. 2024
This is a type of explosive which produces little shrapnel but a powerful which ‘flows’ around corners in defensive earthworks; the U.S. developed a special AGM-114 Cave buster variant of the Hellfire for attacking Taliban tunnel complexes in Afghanistan.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 11 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for earthwork
Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Dec. 2024
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 county's history dates back even further, though. Pre-colonization, Fort Ancient, a 2,000-year-old earthworks site and nature preserve, was built by Indigenous people for ceremonial purposes.
—Erin Couch, The Enquirer, 27 Oct. 2024
This is a type of explosive which produces little shrapnel but a powerful which ‘flows’ around corners in defensive earthworks; the U.S. developed a special AGM-114 Cave buster variant of the Hellfire for attacking Taliban tunnel complexes in Afghanistan.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 11 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for earthwork
Recent Examples of Synonyms for earthwork
Noun
-
Officers found Sharkey’s car, a white 2019 Chevrolet Spark, at the bottom of an embankment on the side of the highway.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
22 Mar. 2025
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The man and his dog spent the night trapped in the wreck in the woods about 30 feet down an embankment from the highway, the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.—
Don Sweeney,
Sacramento Bee,
6 Mar. 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
-
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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The federal government, in association with the state of Louisiana, spent approximately $15 billion rebuilding a series of drainage canals, water pumping stations, and levees that attempt to protect local households from storms.—
Carlos Waters,
CNBC,
12 Feb. 2025
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As the final minutes began to bleed off the clock, the levee finally collapsed for Shrewsbury, as Richardson fired home a rocket through traffic to put Hingham ahead for good at 3-2.—
Brendan Connelly,
Boston Herald,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
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China has expanded fast in the region, building or acquiring Latin American critical infrastructure such as ports including in Panama and Peru, roads, dams, electricity grids, even expanding its space capabilities with at least 16 facilities in the region, according to Newsweek research.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
21 Mar. 2025
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Russia also destroyed the nearby Kakhovka dam, emptying the reservoir that supplied water to cool the plant.—
Lauren Kent,
CNN,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
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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
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His brave stand, like the legendary Dutch hero whose finger in the dike blocked a flood, still holds back the efforts of Putin, Xi Jinping, and their allies to undermine democracy — in the Baltics, Poland, Western Europe, and Taiwan, and in Trump’s United States.—
Trudy Rubin,
The Mercury News,
28 Feb. 2025
Noun
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In 1852, Congress appropriated $15,000 for Waukegan Harbor improvements that included a breakwater with an elevated catwalk parallel to the shore to protect the harbor, in addition to navigation aids.—
Charles Selle,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Mar. 2025
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The federal government's lawsuit hinges on a section in the U.S. Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 that says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must sign off on any plans to place a wharf, pier, boom breakwater, bulkhead, jetty or other structures in navigable waters.—
John C. Moritz,
Austin American-Statesman,
15 May 2024
Noun
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Biden used to frame America’s role in Ukraine as that of a bulwark in the global contest between autocracies and democracies.—
Susan B. Glasser,
The New Yorker,
13 Feb. 2025
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And then there's Musk's increasingly antagonistic attitude toward Ukraine, a country viewed by many Europeans as a bulwark against further Russian aggression.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
12 Mar. 2025
Noun
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That could be a boon for a body of water frequently called an accident, because its current version was created in 1905 when a canal breach allowed millions of gallons of Colorado River water to spill out for almost two years, filling a desert basin.—
Jorge L. Ortiz,
USA Today,
30 Mar. 2025
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About 4% of the world’s maritime trade and more than 40% of US container traffic traverses canal.—
Chris Isidore,
CNN Money,
28 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Earthwork.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/earthwork. Accessed 5 Apr. 2025.
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