foxholes
Soldiers' earthen shelters
Foxholes are small pits dug by soldiers for individual protection during combat.
The term comes from the resemblance to burrows dug by foxes.
The expression there are no atheists in foxholes suggests that extreme danger prompts even skeptics to pray.
Foxhole has become shorthand for any position of immediate peril: We were in the foxholes together during the merger.
Carved-log canoe
- trenchLong narrow excavation
- bunkerReinforced subterranean stronghold
- entrenchmentFortified or fixed position
- earthworkConstructed soil structure
parapet · emplacement · sandbag · revetment · breastwork · fortification · redoubt · outpost
Place of safety
- coverProtect by overlaying
- protectionGuarding against harm
- hideoutSecret place of refuge
- burrowAnimal's dug dwelling
haven · sanctuary · retreat · concealment · escape · evasion · survival · safety
Those without religious faith
- conversionAct of changing states
- crisisDecisive dangerous moment
- desperationUtter loss of hope
- prayerAddress to deity
battlefield · fear · mortality · faith · belief · soldiers · combat · danger
Removing earth below
- excavationAct of unearthing
- shovelTool for moving earth
- sappingGradually draining vitality
- spoilDamage or overindulge
depth · drainage · camouflage · concealment · timber · sandbag · revetment
dugout
Carved-log canoe
- trenchLong narrow excavation
- bunkerReinforced subterranean stronghold
- entrenchmentFortified or fixed position
earthwork · parapet · emplacement · sandbag · revetment · breastwork · fortification · redoubt · outpost · garrison
refuge
Place of safety
- coverProtect by overlaying
- protectionGuarding against harm
- hideoutSecret place of refuge
burrow · haven · sanctuary · retreat · concealment · escape · evasion · survival · safety · underground
atheists
Those without religious faith
- conversionAct of changing states
- crisisDecisive dangerous moment
- desperationUtter loss of hope
prayer · battlefield · fear · mortality · faith · belief · soldiers · combat · danger · deathbed
digging
Removing earth below
- excavationAct of unearthing
- shovelTool for moving earth
- sappingGradually draining vitality
spoil · depth · drainage · camouflage · concealment · timber · sandbag · revetment
- 1940sWWII, D-Day, Pearl Harbor, Normandy, VE Day
- wartimerationing, war economy, war bonds, war effort, evacuations
- D-DayD-Day, Normandy, Omaha Beach, Utah Beach, Gold Beach
- military historybattles, soldiers, campaigns, officers, battlefields
- battlefieldsGettysburg, Waterloo, front lines, Antietam, frontline
- trench warfaretrenches, no man's land, barbed wire, dugouts, front lines
foxholesopen ground
open terrain · no man's land · killing field · open field · killing fields
foxholesfortresses
Fortified defensive structures
bunkers · strongholds · citadels · redoubts · pillboxes
- foxhole prayerPlea made in extremis