Definition of "earthwork" [earth•work]

• An earthen embankment, especially one used as a fortification. See Synonyms at bulwark. (noun)
• Engineering Excavation and embankment of earth. (noun)
• A work of art made by altering an area of land or a natural geographic feature, especially on a large scale. (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.

• "Within the earthwork is a barn that was once the Decorated church of St. Martin."
• "Behind the earthwork was a small fire, and he knew that men would be sitting about it."
• "A peculiar kind of earthwork has the outline of gigantic men or animals."