battleworks

English

Etymology

battle +‎ works

Noun

battleworks pl (plural only)

1. Protective infrastructure erected to protect weapons and soldiers during battle.
   • 1961, William Sansom, The last hours of Sandra Lee, page 195:

     Hearst had his little fingers on Mrs Tovey's ample waist, on what felt through the silk like an ironclad's battleworks.

   • 1996, David Anthony Downes, Hopkins' achieved self, page 156:

     The horizon of heaven is felt as a metal battleworks deflecting the arrows of prayer that are sent to soar as pleas for some castle-master's help for forgiveness: My prayer must meet a brazen heaven And fail and scatter all away.

   • 2014, Robert Reed, The Memory of Sky, →ISBN:

     "I know what's inside the battleworks," she said. "The biggest, harshest weapons in existence, I know. ..."