outpost

noun

out·​post ˈau̇t-ˌpōst 

1

a

: a security detachment dispatched by a main body of troops to protect it from enemy surprise

b

: a military base established by treaty or agreement in another country

2

a

: an outlying or frontier settlement

b

: an outlying branch or position of a main organization or group

Examples of outpost in a Sentence

an American outpost in Africa

The city was established as a military outpost in the 1800s.

a remote outpost of the old British Empire

Recent Examples on the Web

These are features that California daydreams are made of, and this emergent scene is luring visitors to an outpost 70 miles southeast of downtown San Diego. —Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2024

When Reuss was a small child, his family moved from Dolina to Vienna along with hundreds of thousands of other immigrants from the empire’s distant outposts, all landing in the imperial metropolis as the 19th century came to a close. —Tomas Weber, Smithsonian Magazine, 24 Oct. 2024

In 2025, the historic lodge will celebrate 100 years since construction began on the backcountry outpost, and little has changed in the last century. —Elizabeth Hutchison Hicklin, Southern Living, 24 Oct. 2024

Colonial outposts like Singapore and Hong Kong flourished as cosmopolitan hubs, honorary extensions of the metropole into alien lands. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1720, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

outpost

noun

out·​post ˈau̇t-ˌpōst 

1

: a guard stationed at a distance from a military force or camp

2

: the position occupied by an outpost

3

: a settlement on a frontier or in a faraway place