redoubt

noun re·doubt \ ri-ˈdau̇t \

|Updated on: 13 Jun 2018

Examples: redoubt in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of redoubt

1 a : a small usually temporary enclosed defensive work

b : a defended position : protective barrier

2 : a secure retreat : stronghold

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Examples of redoubt in a Sentence

The refugees gathered in a hilly redoubt several miles outside the city.
a massive stone redoubt at the entrance of the bay guarded the city

Recent Examples of redoubt from the Web

For fellow Democrats plotting a similar route, from the deepest of blue districts to once-solid Republican redoubts like Lamb's, the power of that message could make or break their drive to wrest back power in Washington and beyond.

— david wright, CNN, "It's health care, stupid! Democrats dig in as midterms ramp up," 31 May 2018
The rocky cave doubles as an undersea redoubt, like those little castles made for a kid’s aquarium but here blown up to mammoth size.

— christopher knight, latimes.com, "Lauren Halsey takes a fantastic voyage in MOCA's 'we still here, there'," 24 May 2018
In Mohmand Valley, Islamic State fighters are establishing positions in caves and stone redoubts along the ridges that provide a view into U.S. and Afghan posts.

— michael m. phillips, WSJ, "Green Berets Brace for Islamic State Offensive in Afghanistan," 15 May 2018
For over half a century, a stately Belle Époque villa in the German spa town of Baden-Baden served as a redoubt for French conductor and composer Pierre Boulez.

— j.s. marcus, WSJ, "Villa With a Musical Legacy: Pierre Boulez’s Home in Baden-Baden," 9 May 2018
Al-Nusra’s fighters surrendered to the government on April 30th and boarded buses bound for Idlib, a rebel redoubt in the north.

— The Economist, "Syria is erasing the Palestinians’ largest refugee camp," 3 May 2018
These are the reactor buildings: the intractable core of the disaster zone, the radioactive redoubts the robots must penetrate.

— vince beiser, WIRED, "The Robot Assault On Fukushima," 26 Apr. 2018
Even though only two states have actually voted so far this primary election season — Texas, a red-state redoubt, and Illinois, a blue-state stronghold — the battle for supremacy this primary season is all but complete.

— james hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Visuals and ego motivate Trump to take a harder line on Putin," 30 Mar. 2018
Last August, the Lebanese Army defeated several hundred Islamic State militants and drove them from their mountainous redoubt in northeast Lebanon.

— nicholas blanford, The Christian Science Monitor, "Russia-Lebanon deal? What the resurgent power sees in Syria's tiny neighbor.," 15 Mar. 2018

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

Did You Know?

Based on its spelling, you might think that "redoubt" shares its origin with words such as "doubt" and "redoubtable," both of which derive from a Latin verb, dubitare. But that's not the case. "Redoubt" actually derives via French and Italian from a different Latin verb - reducere, meaning "to lead back," the same root that gives us "reduce." How that "b" ended up in "redoubt" is a lingering question, but some etymologists have posited that the word might have been conflated with another "redoubt" - a now-archaic transitive verb meaning "to regard with awe, dismay, or dread." Unlike its homographic twin, that "redoubt" does derive from the same root as "doubt" and "redoubtable."

Origin and Etymology of redoubt

French redoute, from Italian ridotto, from Medieval Latin reductus secret place, from Latin, withdrawn, from past participle of reducere to lead back — more at reduce

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1608

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year