barbette
- noun
- /bɑrˈbɛt/
- Archaic
:
barbeta
- The old fort featured a large barbette from which defenders could fire their cannons over the walls.
- barbette gun
Examples
-
Like a huge, cylindrical well casing, the barbette was the support structure for one of the turrets holding a triple set of fourteen-inch guns.
Academic text (1991) -
We continue to a point on the deck next to the barbette, where they will see a unique sight.
Academic text (1991) -
Entering the barbette from the shallow waters covering the deck is comparable to diving into a thirty-foot-deep well.
Academic text (1991) -
As we swim out from the shadow of the memorial and approach the barbette, we run into another of our research teams, taking measurements of electric conductivity potential at selected points on the hull.
Academic text (1991) -
Moving aft, I pass by the slightly submerged number four barbette, also stripped of its rotating turret.
Academic text (1991) -
Aft of the memorial, the barbette for the number three turret emerges from the water, the largest single visible feature at the wreck site.
Academic text (1991) -
Each bastion had four guns mounted en barbette with up to another 30 installed in three shore batteries (3) in front of the fort, facing the water.
Blog text (31) -
During our tour, the guide explained how the soldiers operated the cannons stationed on the barbette.
-
Visitors can see the remnants of a barbette that once protected the artillery during battles long ago.
Synonyms
A platform that holds a gun so it can fire over a low wall like on a fort or ship
Compounds
- Archaic
A platform that holds a gun so it can fire over a low wall like on a fort or ship
Surface Forms
Etymology
Barbette may come from an old French or Latin word barba meaning 'beard', because the platform often juts out from the wall like a small beard. So a barbette is a raised mound or shelf inside a fort that lets guns fire over the wall.
