Definition of "gabion" [ga•bi•on]

• A cylindrical wicker basket filled with earth and stones, formerly used in building fortifications. (noun)
• A hollow metal cylinder used especially in constructing dams and foundations. (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.

• "A form of earth reinforcement could be undertaken using a material such as gabion mesh laid into the slope at intervals as it is backfilled."
• "Mr. Heselden protected his invention with international patents; his U.S. patent, granted in 2008, calls it a gabion."
• "Students may also caution that Hesco has yet to face hard times: wars and floods have ensured demand for its moneymaker, the gabion that Heselden invented with his British Coal redundancy."