: a fortified place : stronghold
especially
: a large and permanent fortification sometimes including a town
Synonyms
Examples of fortress in a Sentence
the boys built a snow fortress and then challenged the neighborhood kids to an in-your-face snowball fight
Recent Examples on the Web
First built as a royal fortress, the construction aged with the country and evolved well into the Industrial Revolution, according to the University of Sheffield.
Now, a large-scale excavation project is peeling back each layer of time, making shocking discoveries along the way.
—
Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 24 May 2024
The activity befit the Louvre’s origins as a fortress built around 1200 to protect the medieval city from the Normans while King Philippe Auguste was on a crusade.
—Catherine Porter Dmitry Kostyukov, New York Times, 16 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for fortress 
Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 24 May 2024
The activity befit the Louvre’s origins as a fortress built around 1200 to protect the medieval city from the Normans while King Philippe Auguste was on a crusade.
—Catherine Porter Dmitry Kostyukov, New York Times, 16 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for fortress
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fortress.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Fortress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fortress. Accessed 29 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fortress
noun
for·tress
ˈfȯr-trəs 
: a fortified place
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