as in embankment
a raised bank or wall made of soil
—usually plural
prehistoric earthworks
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Recent Examples of earthwork
Residents allege that approving earthwork without a site plan prevents meaningful public review and undermines environmental and infrastructure protections, court documents state.
—
Deborah Laverty, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2026
According to those standards and Google Earth elevation data, that could require earthwork to raise the ground of the Unicoi site by at least 8 feet and as much as 18 feet before construction.
—Brett Kelman, CBS News, 9 Feb. 2026
The backstory People have been drawn to these magical 40 acres for centuries– the name comes from a Narragansett earthwork that once stood here, which to European settlers resembled a castle.
—Todd Plummer, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Feb. 2026
As the seat of the Kingdom of Benin, the city was renowned for monumental earthworks and extraordinary bronze artistry.
—Amir Daftari, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for earthwork
Deborah Laverty, Chicago Tribune, 9 Feb. 2026
According to those standards and Google Earth elevation data, that could require earthwork to raise the ground of the Unicoi site by at least 8 feet and as much as 18 feet before construction.
—Brett Kelman, CBS News, 9 Feb. 2026
The backstory People have been drawn to these magical 40 acres for centuries– the name comes from a Narragansett earthwork that once stood here, which to European settlers resembled a castle.
—Todd Plummer, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Feb. 2026
As the seat of the Kingdom of Benin, the city was renowned for monumental earthworks and extraordinary bronze artistry.
—Amir Daftari, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for earthwork
Recent Examples of Synonyms for earthwork
Noun
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Been there as communities have tried to tame the mighty waters with levees and embankments, and battled 100-pound invasive fish.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
31 May 2026
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The department said callers told them a vehicle crashed into an embankment, bursting into flames.—
Matthew Ablon,
CBS News,
31 May 2026
Noun
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The best are those on top floors with views of the pool or Caribbean Sea beyond city ramparts—uninterrupted for over 500 miles north to Jamaica.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
25 May 2026
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Our stroll began outside the medieval gate—only residents can drive through the stone ramparts—and ended with an aperitif on the square.—
Kevin West,
Travel + Leisure,
8 May 2026
Noun
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The infantrymen around him peeped painfully over the heap of dirt that substituted for a breastwork.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Reconnecting rivers, many of which have been restricted by levees, to seasonal floodplains can dramatically improve growth and survival for juvenile salmon and increase their resilience to climate change.—
Eric Palkovacs,
The Conversation,
26 May 2026
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These are fast disappearing, however, as humans drain them for development, dredge canals in them for the oil and gas industry and construct river levees, depriving them of the sediments that stop them being submerged.—
Laura Paddison,
CNN Money,
25 May 2026
Noun
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The Colorado River gave the city power, beauty and a bit of unpredictability in roughly equal measure—especially before a system of dams helped tame the floods that had long made the river both useful and volatile.—
Spencer Elliott,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
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Farther east, attention is now turning to the Palokki hydropower dam in Finland’s Vuoksi river basin, where plans are underway to restore connectivity across another heavily fragmented watershed.—
Radina Gigova,
CNN Money,
27 May 2026
Noun
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The ditch by the plant is connected to a dike system that runs through the city of Longview, which has a population of around 37,000, Stanfield said.—
Phil Helsel,
NBC news,
29 May 2026
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Constructing protective structures such as levees and dikes can help, as can preserving natural landscapes, such as wetlands and estuaries that can act as a natural sponge to absorb floodwaters, in and near the cities, Shao and her colleagues wrote.—
Adam Kovac,
Scientific American,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The city is also looking at water circulation around the pier, specifically how the breakwater changes the environment, Parry said.—
Karen Garcia,
Los Angeles Times,
20 May 2026
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The shark was apparently first found wedged in rocks by the breakwater at Salty Brine State Beach in Galilee, but then the shark freed itself and started swimming in circles.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
18 May 2026
Noun
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The civilization of love will not arise from a single or spectacular gesture, but from the sum total of small and steadfast acts of fidelity that serve as a bulwark against dehumanization.—
Siladitya Ray,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2026
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That hyper-local, hyper-personal sense of trust and the village green is becoming an important bulwark against the erosion of values in other realms.—
Diane Brady,
Fortune,
19 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Earthwork.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/earthwork. Accessed 6 Jun. 2026.
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