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Definition of "barbican" [bar•bi•can]

  • A tower or other fortification on the approach to a castle or town, especially one at a gate or drawbridge. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "barbican" in a sentence
  • "Within the barbican was another group of veteran invalids, one mounting guard at the portal, while the rest, wrapped in their tattered cloaks, slept on the stone benches."
  • "The castle moat divided this species of barbican [Footnote: A barbican is a tower or outwork built to defend the entry to a castle or fortification.] from the rest of the fortress, so that, in case of its being taken, it was easy to cut off the communication with the main building, by withdrawing the temporary bridge."
  • "On entering the small outer barbican, which is reached by a lane from the market-place, we come to the base of the Norman keep."