embattled
/ɛmˈbæt(ə)ld/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.78 in modern English
Meaning
adj
Armed or prepared for battle (literally or figuratively).
adj
Of a place: occupied or surrounded by armed troops (also figuratively).
adj
Of a place: strengthened so as to withstand attacks; fortified.
adj
Subject to or troubled by attacks, controversy, or pressure.
verb
simple past and past participle of embattle
adj
Of a fortress or other building, a wall, etc.: having battlements or crenellations; battlemented, crenellated.
adj
Having an upper edge or outline of alternating square indentations and extensions like battlements, unless the embattled item is a pale, cross or saltire, in which case it has the crenelations on all sides.
verb
simple past and past participle of embattle
Example Sentences
- "If you knevv hovv ſtrong and full of ſtratagems the diuel vvere, vvith hovve many Legions of luſtfull deſires he commeth embattailed againſt you: vvhat ſecrete ambuſhes of temptations he hath layde to intrappe you, then vvoulde you gather your ſelues into one bodie to reſiſt him: […]"
- "O Prince, O Chief of many Throned Powers, / That led th' imbattelld Seraphim to Warr / Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds / Fearleſs, endanger'd Heav'ns perpetual King; […]"
- "I fight vvith Hector and his hoſt, alone, / Left, hemm'd around by multitudes, I fall; / For Hector, by his vvhole imbattled force / Attended, comes."
- "[T]he imperial city stood released / From bondage threatened by the embattled East, […]"
- "[Christoph] Meiners has gone so far as to suppose a real confederacy to have been formed […] to overthrow, by means of this controversy, the embattled legions of ignorance."
- "The Element euery night vvas embattailed vvith Armed men, skyrmiſhing and conflicting amongſt themeſlues; and the imperiall Eagles of Rome, vvere plainly there diſplayed to all mens ſight."
Etymology
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɛmˈbæt(ə)ld/
- British English: /ɛmˈbætl̩d/
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Military.