fosse Hear it!

fosse Definition

fosse (fäs, fôs)

noun

a ditch or moat, esp. one used in fortifications

Etymology: ME < OFr < L fossa < fossa (terra), dug (earth) < fossus: see fossil

fosse Usage Examples

Adjective modifier

  • deep: It was formerly entered by a drawbridge over a deep fosse.
fosse Quotes

   I hold my lady's head like a crystal and ossify myself by gazing: I am screes on her escarpments, a chalk giant carved upon her downs. Soon my hands, on the sunken fosse of her spine move towards the passes.

—Heaney, SeamusJustin