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parapet Definition

para·pet (par′ə pet′, -pət)

noun

  1. a wall or bank used to screen troops from frontal enemy fire, sometimes placed along the top of a rampart
  2. a low wall or railing, as along a balcony

Etymology: Fr < It parapetto < parare, to guard (< L, prepare) + petto, breast < L pectus

parapet Related Forms

par′a·pet′ed adjective

parapet Synonyms

parapet

n.

rampart, obstruction, hindrance; see barrier, wall 1.

parapet Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • crenellate: Nave south side Nave north side The crenelated parapet on the nave dates from the 17th century.
  • pierce: The top of the tower is a pierced Gothic parapet with eight pinnacles.
  • mount: The procedure is to mount the parapet and make way down being careful not to slip especially when wet, up to the wire.
  • replace: In Victorian times replacing the stone parapets with cast iron, themselves replaced with masonry in the 1920's.
  • hit: However, there must be many bridges where it would be impossible to hit a parapet at such a high speed.

Adjective modifier

  • battlemented: Battlemented parapet with a molded string course below which is a frieze similar to that on the north aisle.
  • embattled: There is an embattled parapet around the slate roof.
  • balustraded: The two gabled outer bays are joined at eaves level by a chunky balustraded parapet.
  • castellated: West wall: inside the west door is an inner paneled porch with a castellated parapet.
  • plain: The transept has plain buttresses and a plain parapet.
  • low: The stairs ended at a trapdoor that led out onto the stone flagged roof of the tower surrounded by a low parapet.

Modifies a noun

  • gutter: For valley and parapet gutter both results for straight and tapered outlets are given.
  • wall: The new parapet walls can just about be made out in the center of the picture, to the right of the road.

Noun used with modifier

  • bridge: The trackbed lies in a cutting beyond the bridge parapet which can clearly be seen in the center of the shot.
  • brick: Before: The golf course access bridge with brick parapet.
  • stone: To your left you can see the stone parapets of a bridge.
  • roof: Large decorative urns that once graced the roof parapet in the early 1900s, disappeared long ago.

Preposition: of

  • trench: He is firing through a pipe which will go through the parapet of the trench.
  • bridge: The rig crashed over the parapet of the narrow bridge, falling 35 feet.

Preposition: with

pinnacle: The top of the tower is a pierced Gothic parapet with eight pinnacles.