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Definition of earthwork
1 : an embankment or other construction made of earth; especially : one used as a field fortification
2 : the operations connected with excavations and embankments of earth
3 : a work of art consisting of a portion of land modified by an artist
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Recent Examples of earthwork from the Web
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The permits also cover earthwork on vacant land next door owned by RD Management.
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Civil War-era rifle bullets—out of the crumbling remains of Confederate earthworks.
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Those earthworks remain, mostly under federal management now—scars in the earth left by a cataclysmic struggle within the American family a century and a half ago.
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The biggest work in the Hirshhorn show, the 1968 Westwall (Siegfried Line), takes on the supposedly impenetrable series of bunkers along Germany’s western border, and considers it more like an earthwork than a wartime embankment.
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However, an equally impressive earthwork sits 116 miles to the northwest and is known as the Paracas Candelabra.
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Named for a sci-fi novel that Smithson read in 1967, earthworks represented a new genre of landscape art.
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Almost 50 years ago, Robert Smithson, along with his fellow artists Michael Heizer, Walter De Maria and other adventurous colleagues, pioneered earthworks, an audacious — and short-lived — movement of the 20th century.
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For more on Land Art, check out James Crump's brand-new documentary Troublemakers: The Story of Land Art, a deep dive into the groundbreaking earthworks of Robert Smithson, Michael Heizer, and Walter De Maria, among others, in the 1960s and '70s.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'earthwork.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of earthwork
1633
EARTHWORK Defined for English Language Learners
earthwork
play
noun
Definition of earthwork for English Language Learners
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: a raised bank or wall made of soil
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