as in strongholds
a structure or place from which one can resist attack
the rebel army retreated to its bastion in the mountains to regroup
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Recent Examples of bastions
The first round brought mixed results for the party, which got re-elected in several cities but failed to make major wins beyond its southern and northern bastions.
—
Reuters, NBC news, 22 Mar. 2026
For its part, the M2 is seen by many as one of the last bastions of the M division’s original ethos.
—Bradley Iger, Robb Report, 18 Mar. 2026
City types of a certain age have been dismayed at the loss of one of the Square Mile’s bastions.
—Ian King, CNBC, 18 Feb. 2026
While many American cities are painted as bastions of murder, a new report has revealed that this is not actually the case.
—Justin Klawans, TheWeek, 27 Jan. 2026
Wikipedia is one of the last bastions of the early internet, but that original vision of a free online space has been clouded by the dominance of Big Tech platforms and the rise of generative AI chatbots trained on content scraped from the web.
—Arkansas Online, 18 Jan. 2026
In her conversations with health officials around the country, Balfour has found that there is increasing backlash towards the growing number of people who are unhoused, even in liberal bastions such as San Francisco and Seattle.
—O. Rose Broderick, STAT, 2 Jan. 2026
After tenures at Atlanta bastions like Miller Union, pastry chef Claudia Martinez is now taking the driver’s seat with a star-studded crew behind her.
—Su-Jit Lin, Southern Living, 17 Dec. 2025
While rural areas remain conservative bastions, farmers’ patience with Washington is wearing thin.
—Josh Funk, Fortune, 12 Dec. 2025
Reuters, NBC news, 22 Mar. 2026
For its part, the M2 is seen by many as one of the last bastions of the M division’s original ethos.
—Bradley Iger, Robb Report, 18 Mar. 2026
City types of a certain age have been dismayed at the loss of one of the Square Mile’s bastions.
—Ian King, CNBC, 18 Feb. 2026
While many American cities are painted as bastions of murder, a new report has revealed that this is not actually the case.
—Justin Klawans, TheWeek, 27 Jan. 2026
Wikipedia is one of the last bastions of the early internet, but that original vision of a free online space has been clouded by the dominance of Big Tech platforms and the rise of generative AI chatbots trained on content scraped from the web.
—Arkansas Online, 18 Jan. 2026
In her conversations with health officials around the country, Balfour has found that there is increasing backlash towards the growing number of people who are unhoused, even in liberal bastions such as San Francisco and Seattle.
—O. Rose Broderick, STAT, 2 Jan. 2026
After tenures at Atlanta bastions like Miller Union, pastry chef Claudia Martinez is now taking the driver’s seat with a star-studded crew behind her.
—Su-Jit Lin, Southern Living, 17 Dec. 2025
While rural areas remain conservative bastions, farmers’ patience with Washington is wearing thin.
—Josh Funk, Fortune, 12 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bastions
Noun
-
Northern Israel has come under especially heavy fire from Hezbollah in recent days, and residents, including people in traditional Netanyahu strongholds, have voiced anger over Israel's failure to halt the attacks.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
22 Mar. 2026
-
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee invested millions into several House contests, hoping to box out progressive, anti-Israel candidates from winning safe Democratic strongholds.—
Rachel Schilke,
The Washington Examiner,
18 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Surface tanks are targets; subsurface reservoirs are fortresses.—
Siddharth Misra,
Fortune,
6 Mar. 2026
-
France believed its Maginot Line of fortresses was impregnable – until the Germans simply went around it.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
19 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Iran’s neighbors, particularly Turkey and Iraq, are preparing contingency plans including border fortifications and refugee shelters amid fears of a potential crisis.—
Sam McNeil,
Los Angeles Times,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Even though the border was relatively quiet for years, Israel also prepared for the next war with Hezbollah, gathering intelligence and building its own fortifications.—
Oren Liebermann,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The story is a bit murkier than Manichaean talk of stormers and citadels.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Intelsat’s leadership rapidly green-lighted the campaign to set up internet citadels.—
Kevin Holden Platt,
Forbes.com,
20 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Also enjoy beach games, building sand castles, practicing beach safety and using boogie boards and kickboards.—
Jessie Dax-Setkus,
Oc Register,
22 Mar. 2026
-
Six months to be around castles and fire and monsters and beauty and pain and all these things.—
David Morgan,
CBS News,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Our boys were no longer little travelers content to trail along behind us through forts and museums.—
Christine Chitnis,
Condé Nast Traveler,
19 Mar. 2026
-
There are more than 7,000 glaciers capping the hills of Gilgit-Baltistan, and travelers on the new trip can trek alongside them following visits to ancient Buddhist monuments and mud-brick forts.—
The Editors,
Outside,
18 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Bastions.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bastions. Accessed 24 Mar. 2026.
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