entrenchments
Dug-in defensive positions
Entrenchments are defensive positions fortified by trenches, or more broadly, any firmly established positions that are difficult to change or remove.
Military forces dig entrenchments for protection; ideas and habits become entrenchments when deeply rooted: The committee's entrenchments made reform nearly impossible.
The word often implies resistance to change that may be excessive or counterproductive.
Constructed soil fortifications
- redoubtsTemporary enclosed fortifications
- rampartsProtective fortress walls
- bastionsFortified defensive positions
- parapetsLow protective walls
palisades · bunkers · foxholes · dugouts · breastworks · stockades · bulwarks · blockhouses
Firmly and long established
- ingrainedFirmly established by habit
- embeddedSet firmly within something
- fixedRestored or immovable
- establishedFormally set up
persistent · immovable · resistant · unyielding · stubborn · intractable · institutional · systemic
Unclaimed disputed territory
- frontlineCombat's forward position
- siegeEncirclement forcing surrender
- salientNotably prominent
- sappersSoldiers specializing in fortifications
artillery · flanks · bombardment · attrition · stalemate · Western Front · barbed wire · sandbags
Act of unearthing
- sappingGradually draining vitality
- tunnelingDigging underground passages
- earthmovingRelocating soil mechanically
- ditchesNarrow drainage channels
spadework · groundwork · burrowing · mining · embankment · cutting · fill · drainage
earthworks
Constructed soil fortifications
- redoubtsTemporary enclosed fortifications
- rampartsProtective fortress walls
- bastionsFortified defensive positions
parapets · palisades · bunkers · foxholes · dugouts · breastworks · stockades · bulwarks · blockhouses · casemates
deep-rooted
Firmly and long established
established · persistent · immovable · resistant · unyielding · stubborn · intractable · institutional · systemic · structural
no-man's-land
Unclaimed disputed territory
sappers · artillery · flanks · bombardment · attrition · stalemate · Western Front · barbed wire · sandbags · duckboards
excavation
Act of unearthing
- sappingGradually draining vitality
- tunnelingDigging underground passages
- earthmovingRelocating soil mechanically
ditches · spadework · groundwork · burrowing · mining · embankment · cutting · fill · drainage · surveying
- fortificationsfort, fortress, fortresses, citadel, citadels
- Caesar's GaulJulius Caesar, Gaul, Gallic Wars, legions, Roman legions
- siege warfaresiege, siege tower, siege engine, siege guns, siege warfare
- Petersburg CampaignPetersburg, siege warfare, siege lines, earthworks, Grant
- artillerycannons, cannon, howitzers, howitzer, mortars
- war suppliesammunition, rations, food, provisions, rifles
entrenchmentsopen ground
no man's land · open terrain · forward positions · clearings · bivouacs
entrenchmentsadvances
Forward movements or progress
offensive maneuvers · redeployments · dynamic positioning · charges · assaults
entrenchmentssuperficialities
Shallow, unimportant matters
temporary measures · openness · adaptability · dislodgements · uprootings