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Definition of redoubt
1a : a small usually temporary enclosed defensive workb : a defended position : protective barrier
2 : a secure retreat : stronghold
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redoubt was our Word of the Day on 06/04/2017. Hear the podcast!
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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
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After launching the last phase of the battle in mid-June, the Iraqi security forces slowly but surely penetrated the Old City, one of the final ISIS redoubts in Mosul.
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But the advance remains an arduous task as the insurgents are dug in the middle of civilians, using mortar fire, snipers, booby traps, and suicide bombers to defend their last redoubt.
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But the advance remains arduous as IS fighters are dug in the middle of civilians, using mortar fire, snipers, booby traps and suicide bombers to defend their last redoubt.
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Shulkin will not turn VA into a political-hack redoubt, but the fear is understandable.
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Then the father took his leave and disappeared into the mountains, heading for a familiar redoubt known as the Black Cave—or, in the local Pashto language, Tora Bora.
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This vast and often hilly expanse along Turkey’s southern border has become the rebels’ final redoubt.
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In a chaotic city, Rakhlin’s class offered teen-agers a redoubt of discipline.
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In Iraq, special operations forces are working with Iraqi units trying to clear Islamic State from their redoubt in Mosul, calling in airstrikes and advising on tactics.
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
REDOUBT Defined for English Language Learners
redoubt
playDefinition of redoubt for English Language Learners
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: a small building or area that gives protection to soldiers under attack
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: a safe or protected place
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