stockade

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noun stock·ade \ stä-ˈkād \

Definition of stockade

1 :a line of stout posts set firmly to form a defense

2 a :an enclosure or pen made with posts and stakes

b :an enclosure in which prisoners are kept

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See stockade defined for kids

Examples of stockade in a Sentence

prisoners of war confined in a stockade

Recent Examples of stockade from the Web

Using ancient post holes as a guide, a stockade has been reconstructed around the periphery of Aztalan, giving visitors a fleeting sense of this ancient city’s dimensions.

— david hammond, chicagotribune.com, "Lost cities of the Midwest: A trek back to pre-Columbian times," 21 July 2017
Shaken, Washington rushed back to Great Meadows and ordered the construction of a stockade in anticipation of a French attack.

— gillian brockell, Washington Post, "The worst July 4 that George Washington ever had — and how it led to a new nation," 4 July 2017
Soldiers abandoned their positions and ran into the stockade.

— gillian brockell, Washington Post, "The worst July 4 that George Washington ever had — and how it led to a new nation," 4 July 2017
Despite federal warnings, a majority refused to leave—and in 1838, Cherokee people were rounded up, placed in camps and stockades, and rushed from their ancestral lands in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama to what is now Oklahoma.

— erin blakemore, Smithsonian, "Witness the Document that Set the Trail of Tears in Motion," 12 May 2017
Forts San Louis and San Carlos, at the upper and lower river corners of the city, were similar except that their walkways were covered, making them look something like frontier stockades.

— richard campanella, NOLA.com, "New Orleans 'Fort-prints': Odd angled properties are relics of city's fortified past," 10 May 2017
Nearby is a photo opp for those with naughty friends or relatives – an old-style stockade found in those times as a punishment for transgressors.

— mark eades, Orange County Register, "A former Disney Imagineer’s guide to Walt Disney World’s Liberty Square," 10 May 2017
County Administrator Bertha Henry said the stockade is the only backup jail if overcrowding forces the county to seek more jail space.

— larry barszewski, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Broward and Fort Lauderdale may pursue joint government building," 9 May 2017
Hey, that’s not how my church asks for volunteers to stand in stockades on top of a taco truck and repent.

— margaret lyons and james poniewozik, New York Times, "Where Is God on the Small Screen?," 24 Aug. 2016

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

Origin and Etymology of stockade

Spanish estacada, from estaca stake, pale, of Germanic origin; akin to Old English staca stake

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First Known Use: 1614

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stockade Synonyms

Synonyms

bastille, big house [slang], bridewell, brig, calaboose, can, clink [slang], cooler, coop, guardroom, hock, hold, hoosegow, jailhouse, joint [slang], jug, lockup, nick [British slang], pen, penitentiary, pokey [slang], prison, quod [British slang], slam, slammer, stir [slang], jail, tolbooth [Scottish]

Related Words

bull pen, cage, cell, hole, tank; block, ward; glasshouse [British], guardhouse, hulk (s); concentration camp, gulag, labor camp, prison camp, stalag, work camp; dungeon, keep, oubliette; reformatory, reform school, training school

Near Antonyms

outside

stockade

verb

Definition of stockade

stockaded; stockading

transitive verb

:to fortify or surround with a stockade

First Known Use of stockade

1677

STOCKADE Defined for English Language Learners

stockade

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noun

Definition of stockade for English Language Learners

: a line of tall posts that are set in the ground and used as a barrier to protect or defend a place

STOCKADE Defined for Kids

stockade

play

noun stock·ade \ stä-ˈkād \

Definition of stockade for Students

1 :a line of strong posts set in the ground to form a defense

2 :an enclosure usually formed by posts pounded into the ground

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See words that rhyme with stockade Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for stockade Spanish Central: Translation of stockade Nglish: Translation of stockade for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of stockade for Arabic speakers

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stockade

Definition of stockade

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STOCKADE Defined for English Language Learners

stockade

Definition of stockade for English Language Learners

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stockade

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