Milit., also abattis, abbatis, abbattis. [a. Fr. abatis mass of things thrown down:—OFr. abateïs:—late L. *abatetīci-us arising from throwing down; cf. vb. abatre. See ABATE.]
A defence constructed by placing felled trees lengthwise one over the other with their branches towards the enemy’s line, and piling them up until a shelter for workmen is obtained.
1766. Smollett, Hist. Eng. (1828), II. 391. The ground before it [was] covered with an abbatis, or felled trees, with their boughs pointing outwards, and projecting in such a manner as to render the intrenchment almost inaccessible.
1795. Nelson, in Nicolas’s Dispatches (ed. 2), I. 380. The Seamen and Carpenters were all night employed in cutting down trees to form an abbatis.
1810. Wellington, in Gurwood’s Despatches, VI. 504. The first is loop-holed and there is an Abbatis in its front.
1847. Gleig, Battle of Waterloo, 152. The riflemen attended to their own security by throwing an abattis across the chaussée.
1863. Life in the South, II. 160. An abbatis still surrounded the stone bridge.
1865. Morning Star, March, 30. At about twenty paces in front of this earthwork is what is termed the abatis.
