bastion

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noun bas·tion \ ˈbas-chən \

Definition of bastion

1 :a projecting part of a fortification

a bastion at each of the fort's five corners

2 :a fortified area or position

bombing island bastions

3 :stronghold 2

the last bastion of academic standards
—Amer. Scientist

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bastioned

play \-chənd\ adjective

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bastion was our Word of the Day on 11/07/2009. Hear the podcast!

Examples of bastion in a Sentence

the rebel army retreated to its bastion in the mountains to regroup

Recent Examples of bastion from the Web

Bass fishing just may be the last bastion of sanity in the sports world — or even the whole world.

— lydia lohrer, Detroit Free Press, "Outdoors: Fishing’s First Family? It’s the VanDams by mile," 26 Aug. 2017
Their rights were defended by the American Civil Liberties Union, despised by many conservatives as a liberal bastion.

— sharon cohen, The Seattle Times, "Strange bedfellows: The ACLU, free speech and Neo-Nazis," 15 Aug. 2017
IBM even made a deal to sell it through that bastion of mainstream Americana, Sears.

— jimmy maher, Ars Technica, "The complete history of the IBM PC, part two: The DOS empire strikes," 31 July 2017
In Caracas, the strike was most pronounced in the eastern neighborhoods, a middle- and upper-middle-class bastion.

— rachelle krygier, Washington Post, "Opposition strike paralyzes parts of Venezuela as fears of violence mount," 20 July 2017
More than 550 people, including 413 militants, have been killed in nearly two months of fighting in Marawi, a bastion of Islamic faith in the south.

— teresa cerojano, The Seattle Times, "Philippines’ Duterte asks Congress to extend martial law," 18 July 2017
More than 550 people, including 413 militants, have been killed in nearly two months of fighting in Marawi, a bastion of Islamic faith in the south.

— Bloomberg.com, "Philippines' Duterte Asks Congress to Extend Martial Law," 18 July 2017
To an American conservative in a high bastion of Western left-wing academia, listening to his statement and his sharp responses to would-be gotcha questions from the floor was a delight.

— will collier, National Review, "Jacob Rees-Mogg Is Finally Having His Moment," 17 July 2017
There are about a dozen of these bar-arcade fusions in Chicago, said Jody Dankberg, director of marketing and licensing at Stern Pinball, one of the world's largest remaining bastions of pinball machine manufacturing.

— ally marotti, chicagotribune.com, "Barcades, baby boomers keep pinball machines rolling off assembly line," 4 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bastion.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Bastion is constructed of etymological building blocks that are very similar to those of "bastille" (a word now used as a general term for a prison, but probably best known as the name of the Parisian fortress-turned-prison stormed by an angry mob at the start of the French Revolution). The history of "bastion" can be traced through Middle French to the Old Italian verb bastire, which means "to build." "Bastille" descends from the Old Occitan verb "bastir," which also means "to build." "Bastir" and "bastire" are themselves of Germanic origin and akin to the Old High German word besten, meaning "to patch."

Origin and Etymology of bastion

Middle French, from Old Italian bastione, augmentative of bastia fortress, derivative from dialect form of bastire to build, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German besten to patch

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First Known Use: 1562

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