gabion
- a cylinder of wicker filled with earth or stones, formerly used in building fortifications
- a similar cylinder of metal, used as in building dams and dikes
Origin of gabion
French from Italian gabbione, large cage from gabbia, cage, coop from Classical Latin cavea: see cagegabion
noun
- A cylindrical wicker basket filled with earth and stones, formerly used in building fortifications.
- A metal cage filled with rocks, used in constructing dams, embankments, and other structures.
Origin of gabion
French from Italian gabbione augmentative of gabbia cage from Latin caveagabion
Noun
(plural gabions)
- A cylindrical basket or cage of wicker which was filled with earth or stones and used in fortifications and other engineering work (a precursor to the sandbag).
- A woven wire mesh unit, sometimes rectangular, made from a continuous mesh panel and filled with stones sometimes coated with polyvinyl chloride.
- A porous metal cylinder filled with stones and used in a variety of civil engineering contexts, especially in the construction of retaining walls, the reinforcing of steep slopes, or in the prevention of erosion in river banks.
- A knickknack, objet d'art, curiosity, collectable.
