as in embankment
a raised bank or wall made of soil
—usually plural
prehistoric earthworks
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of earthwork
Archaeologists similarly used a drone to uncover the eroded remains of a large pre-Columbian earthworks buried beneath a field in southeastern Kansas.
—
Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 8 Jan. 2025
In the 1970s, Smithson began making earthworks, the art pieces that would define his career.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Dec. 2024
Kyiv has been struggling to boost military recruitment, stiffen its forces’ defensive earthworks, reform archaic command staffs and boost the output of Ukrainian arms factories.
—David Axe, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2024
The county's history dates back even further, though. Pre-colonization, Fort Ancient, a 2,000-year-old earthworks site and nature preserve, was built by Indigenous people for ceremonial purposes.
—Erin Couch, The Enquirer, 27 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for earthwork
Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 8 Jan. 2025
In the 1970s, Smithson began making earthworks, the art pieces that would define his career.
—Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Dec. 2024
Kyiv has been struggling to boost military recruitment, stiffen its forces’ defensive earthworks, reform archaic command staffs and boost the output of Ukrainian arms factories.
—David Axe, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2024
The county's history dates back even further, though. Pre-colonization, Fort Ancient, a 2,000-year-old earthworks site and nature preserve, was built by Indigenous people for ceremonial purposes.
—Erin Couch, The Enquirer, 27 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for earthwork
Recent Examples of Synonyms for earthwork
Noun
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According to police, a preliminary investigation indicated that the Jeep was attempting to exit onto the ramp for southbound I-83 when, for unknown reasons, the vehicle lost control and hit the embankment then a tree before catching fire.—
Matt Hubbard,
Baltimore Sun,
6 Apr. 2025
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Auvers-sur-Oise’s mayor, Isabelle Mézières, has for five years argued that the embankment was public property, but earlier this month, an appeals court in Versailles sided with Jean-François and Hélène Serlinger, the owners of a residence that includes where van Gogh made Tree Roots (1890).—
Angelica Villa for ARTNews,
Robb Report,
6 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Perhaps halfway up to the crest which forms the ramparts of the Mule Shoe was a jutting bastion of orange-colored rock.—
Frank C. Hibben,
Outdoor Life,
27 Feb. 2025
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The 18th-century ramparts encircling the city are free to climb and boast dramatic ocean views.—
Livia Hengel,
Forbes,
26 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Dams and levees lead to less frequent flooding, but erosion and deforestation mean more catastrophic floods when these barriers are breached.—
Nikil Saval,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
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Image Most of the storm’s damage so far has been caused by floodwaters that overtopped riverbanks and levees, surged through streets and inundated the basements and ground floors of buildings.—
Patrick J. Lyons,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Already, workers have partially deconstructed the existing dam, dumped fill material and poured concrete for the expansion.—
Elise Schmelzer,
Denver Post,
4 Apr. 2025
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The dam holds back a river near Popovka, a border settlement in Belgorod.—
David Axe,
Forbes.com,
2 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The fifth season, then, premiered in the noxious contrail of the Dobbs decision, which silenced those who believed a 1973 Supreme Court case could serve as a permanent finger in the political dike.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Apr. 2025
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Miss Maynard’s class is building Holland on a small scale in one of their sandbox tables with dikes, towers, windmills, boys with wooden shoes and girls with flaxen hair.—
Contributed Content,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Its first civil works project in the Philadelphia region was the construction of a breakwater near Cape Henlopen, Delaware, in 1829.—
Todd Aagaard,
The Conversation,
3 Apr. 2025
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SailGP saw 12 teams on one start line for the first time Saturday, and within the confines of the breakwater in the Port of Los Angeles, the racetrack would be congested, possibly the tightest yet seen.—
Andrew Rice,
The Athletic,
16 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Anything can happen between now and 2029, but the threat to one of traditional TV’s last remaining bulwarks is about as real—and potentially devastating—as an old-school forearm shiver to the jaw.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
4 Apr. 2025
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Furthermore, Reuters reported in February that Israel was actively lobbying the U.S. not to pressure Russia to withdraw from Syria, arguing the Russian military’s vastly diminished presence in Syria serves as a necessary bulwark against further Turkish expansion there.—
Paul Iddon,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The Spanish immediately recognized the importance of the canal network.—
Ari Caramanica,
The Conversation,
8 Apr. 2025
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That means that any ship, regardless of its country of origin, can use the canal.—
Whitney Eulich,
Christian Science Monitor,
8 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Earthwork.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/earthwork. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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