as in embankment
a raised bank or wall made of soil
—usually plural
prehistoric earthworks
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Recent Examples of earthwork
As the seat of the Kingdom of Benin, the city was renowned for monumental earthworks and extraordinary bronze artistry.
—
Amir Daftari, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Dec. 2025
The Hopewell made even more elaborate burial mounds and earthworks, and expanded on what the Adena had established.
—Jeff Suess, Cincinnati Enquirer, 23 Nov. 2025
Hundreds of people braved Ohio’s snowy winter to experience the earthwork.
—Kevin Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 May 2025
Four years later, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the Ohio History Connection could move forward with its plans to open up access to the earthworks.
—Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 2 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for earthwork
Amir Daftari, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Dec. 2025
The Hopewell made even more elaborate burial mounds and earthworks, and expanded on what the Adena had established.
—Jeff Suess, Cincinnati Enquirer, 23 Nov. 2025
Hundreds of people braved Ohio’s snowy winter to experience the earthwork.
—Kevin Williams, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 May 2025
Four years later, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the Ohio History Connection could move forward with its plans to open up access to the earthworks.
—Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 2 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for earthwork
Recent Examples of Synonyms for earthwork
Noun
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The crash comes just more than five years after Woods was involved in a serious rollover crash near Los Angeles, when his car went off the road going more than 80 mph and down an embankment in the Pacific Palisades in February 2021.—
Patrick Hipes,
Deadline,
27 Mar. 2026
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Officials said the scared dog ran and jumped over the railing and fell down the embankment.—
Adam Thompson,
CBS News,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Military engineers resorted to building lower, thicker ramparts, backed by earth, and sought to eliminate blind spots by building angular bastions — the aforementioned extrusions.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
27 Mar. 2026
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In this sense, Welles’s songs are far better suited to social media than to the stage, to say nothing of the ramparts.—
Mitch Therieau,
New Yorker,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The infantrymen around him peeped painfully over the heap of dirt that substituted for a breastwork.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The cost of upgrading the local levee is about three times the town's total annual budget.—
Rebecca Hersher,
NPR,
30 Mar. 2026
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But farming communities nationwide have been adversely affected by the president's tariff policy, as global trading partners scaled back agricultural purchases like soybeans in retaliation for higher levees.—
Jennifer Jacobs,
CBS News,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
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This is small, beaver-dam-laden water with a sandy composition, and a few years ago, Kozminski caught a glimpse of something irregular sticking out of the sand.—
Joe Cermele,
Outdoor Life,
2 Apr. 2026
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Some customers complain about large icicles and ice dams forming in the winter where there weren’t issues previously, which makes some homeowners question how well the system actually collects runoff.—
Dan Simms,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Park staff in July partially opened the valve of the structure after heavy rain caused water levels to overflow the lake’s earthen dike, raising erosion concerns.—
Mary Divine,
Twin Cities,
18 Feb. 2026
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Refurbishment of the dike around the lake is finished, and a revision of the lake management rules went into effect in 2024.—
Amy Green,
Miami Herald,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The hot spring pools blend into the natural rocky breakwater barriers and offer the opportunity for a warm soak after swimming in the sea.—
Lauren Breedlove,
Outside,
3 Mar. 2026
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Manmade structures like the pier and breakwater at Michigan City and the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor in Portage disrupt the natural flow of sand along the southern shore of Lake Michigan.—
Doug Ross,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Jan. 2026
Noun
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As well as acting as a bulwark against the desert’s encroachment, the greenery is intended to improve agricultural conditions and reduce political unrest in the area, and will act as a carbon sink, Gizmodo reported.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
3 Apr. 2026
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How a country founded in fear of a standing army came to think of its military as a bulwark of American democracy is the subject of my work.—
Kori Schake,
The Atlantic,
22 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Earthwork.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/earthwork. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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