See Also: Terrace(medicine)
terrace(1)(dictionary)
terrace(2)(dictionary)
terrace(dictionary)
Champs Oakbrook Terrace(tourism)
Kamala Bay Terrace Resort(tourism)
The Chifley On South Terrace(tourism)
The Royal Terrace Hotel(tourism)

terrace(1) (iou)



terrace noun. E16.
[Old French terrace, (also mod.) -asse rubble, platform, from Proto-Romance from Latin terra earth.]
Orig., an open gallery; a colonnade, a portico; a balcony. Later, a raised platform or balcony in a theatre, auditorium, etc. E16.
Guardian The music sounds better in the top terrace..than in the lower terraces.
a. A raised level, esp. paved area, adjoining a house etc. or in a garden, for walking or sitting; the levelled top of a natural slope or river-bank, esp. forming a series. L16.
Sir W. Scott The garden..was laid out in terraces, which descended rank by rank..to a large brook. A. Brink I took him to a cafe terrace and ordered two beers.
b. Military. A raised earthwork, constructed by a besieging force as a place from which to launch an assault or gain a vantage point. arch. rare. L16.
c. Chiefly Archaeology. = CULTIVATION terrace. L18.
P. Matthiessen The path follows a dike between the..canal and the green terraces of rice.
d. A flight of wide shallow steps providing standing room for spectators at a sports (esp. a football) ground (usu. in pl.); any of these steps. Also (in pl.), the spectators occupying such a flight of steps. M20.
Match Celebrating his goal with a..rush to the fans on the terraces.
The flat roof of a house, esp. in warm climates, where the roof is used as a cool resting area. L16.
A naturally occurring formation of the earth's surface with a level top and sloping sides; spec. (a) a tableland; (b) Geology a horizontal shelf or bench on the side of a hill or on sloping ground, formed at the former margin of a river, sea, etc. L17.
A row of houses on a raised level, or along the top or face of a slope. Also, a row of houses built in one block and usu. of uniform style; the street on to which such a row of houses faces. M18.
D. Storey A few doors down the terrace lived Mr. Reagan.
b. = terrace house below. L19.
A soft spot in marble, which is cleaned out and the cavity filled up with a paste. Cf. TERRACY. rare. L19.
Comb.: terrace-cultivation (chiefly Archaeology) cultivation of hillsides in terraces (sense 2c above); terrace house any of a row of usu. similar houses joined by party-walls.