fortification

noun

ˌfȯr-tə-fə-ˈkā-shən How to pronounce fortification (audio)
Definition of fortificationnext
as in fortress
a structure or place from which one can resist attack defenders at the border fortifications preparing for an attack

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fortification Launched in 2024, MICAS occupies restored 17th-century Floriana fortifications, a former Knights-era poorhouse, and a gunpowder store in Malta’s Baroque capital city Valletta. — The Editors Of Artnews, ARTnews.com, 27 July 2026 The discovery was made beneath an Israelite-period ritual deposit and adjacent to an ancient Canaanite fortification wall, according to the excavation team. — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 19 July 2026 Layered air-defense systems Iran complements physical fortification with air-defense systems positioned around strategically important military and industrial areas. — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 14 July 2026 Spanish forces completed the coquina stone fortress in 1695 on the site of an earlier wooden fortification. — Lane Degregory, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for fortification
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fortification
  1. fortress
  2. stronghold
  3. citadel
  4. bastion
  5. castle
  6. fort
Noun
  • Another day trip option is the hilltop town of Erice, where there's a medieval fortress that's over 2,500 years old.
    — Megan Rose Murray, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Aug. 2026
  • Cage plays Roy, a gifted con artist with obsessive-compulsive disorder whose tics, phobias and elaborate rituals have turned his immaculate home into a fortress against the world.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of fortress
Noun
  • In the centuries that followed, the Mission went from Mexican farmland to immigrant stronghold as waves of working-class European families moved into the neighborhood following the Gold Rush in the mid-1800s.
    — Marissa J. Lang, NPR, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Residents of Pale, a Bosnian Serb stronghold just outside of Sarajevo, mourned Mladic.
    — Jovana Gec, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of stronghold
Noun
  • One night, a cockroach breaches his citadel, and Pratt swiftly dispatches it.
    — Asim Ali, Time, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Laelaps was sent to chase a fox that was terrorizing the Cadmea, a citadel.
    — Maddie Rhodes, USA Today, 24 July 2026
Definition of citadel
Noun
  • The area was incredibly special to Chamberlain, who first came out East to stay with Larry Rivers in Southampton, long before the town was a bastion of Sant Ambroeus and Brandy Melville.
    — Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 21 Aug. 2026
  • He was tracked down in the town of Jesús María, a bastion of Los Chapitos on the outskirts of Culiacán, where another of El Chapo’s sons, Ovidio Guzmán López, was arrested after a firefight in 2023.
    — Senior Editor, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of bastion
Noun
  • The other piece was a close up of the castle against a deep blue sky with a variant of this showing Disney's traditional shooting star firework in an arc above it.
    — Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026
  • The price that Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, paid for the three-story castle has not yet been disclosed.
    — Katie Schultz, Architectural Digest, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of castle
Noun
  • Which is why on September 17, 2026, Deadline wants to celebrate the lawyers — especially the ones holding down the Hollywood fort.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026
  • By upgrading wastewater systems in the Everglades, repairing boardwalks at Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, and restoring historic fort walls at Gulf Islands National Seashore, the LRF is protecting the long-term legacy of our public lands.
    — Lulu Vilas, Sun Sentinel, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of fort

Browse Nearby Words

forthwith
fortification
fortifications
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Cite this Entry

“Fortification.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fortification. Accessed 30 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on fortification

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fortification

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