noun. A defensive obstacle made by laying felled trees on top of each other with branches, sometimes sharpened, facing the enemy.

noun. In fortification, a barricade made of felled trees denuded of their smaller branches, with the butt-ends of the trunks embedded in the earth or secured by pickets, and the sharpened ends of the branches directed upward and outward toward an advancing enemy, for the purpose of obstructing his progress.

noun. In coal-mining, walls of cord-wood piled up crosswise to keep the underground roads open so as to secure ventilation.

noun. In the middle ages, an officer of the stables who had the care of measuring out the provender; an avenor.

noun. A means of defense formed by felled trees, the ends of whose branches are sharpened and directed outwards, or against the enemy.

noun. a line of defense consisting of a barrier of felled or live trees with branches (sharpened or with barbed wire entwined) pointed toward the enemy

"I mean that the Wilderness woodsmen, without orders from Clay, had converted the entire area that would have to be traversed into a natural death trap, an abatis, a French word my grandfather did not know, nor did I when I first heard it."

abattis  

line of defence  line of defense  

abattis  abbatis  birk  bowshot  counterscarp  

advanced work  balistraria  bank  banquette  barbed-wire entanglement