See Also: bastille(1)(dictionary)
bastille(2)(dictionary)
Bastille(encyclopedia)
Bastille(dictionary)

bastille(1) (iou)



bastille noun. [ba'sti:l] Also bastile. LME.

Hist. A tower or bastion of a castle; a small fortress. LME.
In siege operations, a wooden tower on wheels, or an entrenched protective hut used by the besiegers. LME.
a. (Bastille.) The prison-fortress built in Paris in the 14th cent., and destroyed in 1789. M16.
b. A prison. E18.
Comb.: Bastille Day 14 July, the date of the storming of the Bastille in 1789, celebrated as a national holiday in France.