(definition) by Webster 1913 Tue Dec 21 1999 at 22:03:50

Bas*tile", Bas*tille" (?), n. [F. bastille fortress, OF. bastir to build, F. btir.]

1. Feud. Fort.

A tower or an elevated work, used for the defense, or in the siege, of a fortified place.

The high bastiles . . . which overtopped the walls. Holland.

2.

"The Bastille", formerly a castle or fortress in Paris, used as a prison, especially for political offenders; hence, a rhetorical name for a prison.

 

© Webster 1913.

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