20090705Word of the Day

junli

rampart

\ram-pahrt\ , noun:
1.A fortification consisting of an embankment, often with a parapet built on top.
2.A means of protection or defense; a bulwark.
verb:
1.To defend with a rampart.
名词 n. [P1]
1.(城堡周围堤状的)防御土墙,壁垒
Perhaps the tower was part of the ramparts of the city.
这城楼或许就是城墙的一部分。
2.防御物,保护物;堡垒
及物动词 vt.
1.用壁垒防护

Quotes:
To stand upon ramparts and die for our principles is heroic, but to sally forth to battle and win for our principles is something more than heroic.
~Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
As his corpse to the rampart we hurried.
~Charles Wolfe, The Burial of Sir John Moore
There is no rampart that will hold out against malice.
~Moliere,

Origin:
Rampart derives from Middle French remparer, equivalent to re + emparer "to take the possesion of."