Meaning

(chiefly construction) Originally a cylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood, and now often a bundle of plastic pipes, bound together, and used for strengthening purposes, such as in revetments for riverbanks, and in mats for dams, jetties, etc..

Definitions by Sense

1. (chiefly construction) Originally a cylindrical bundle of small sticks of wood, and now often a bundle of plastic pipes, bound together, and used for strengthening purposes, such as in revetments for riverbanks, and in mats for dams, jetties, etc.
2. (specifically, military fortification) A similar bundle of sticks of wood or plastic pipes used for filling in ditches for armoured fighting vehicles to drive over, and for making parapets, raising batteries, and strengthening ramparts.
3. (figuratively, rare) Something which is used for defensive purposes.
4. (transitive, originally military, chiefly New Zealand) To use fascines to build or reinforce (something), or to fill in (a trench, etc.).

Example Sentences

Our forces being landed and ſtationed as I have already mentioned, ſet about erecting a faſchine battery to cannonade the principal fort of the enemy, and in ſomething more than three vveeks, it vvas ready to open.

Halberts differ very little from the bill, being like them conſtructed both for puſhing and cutting: a halbert conſiſts of three parts, the ſpear, or ſometimes a kind of ſvvord blade for puſhing, an ax, or hatchet for ſtriking and cutting, and a flook or hook for pulling down faſcines, in the attack of trenches, or temporary fortifications.

Verily the man must feel as though he were in a dream; only a short time before, at a shoemaker's ordinary work, the knocking of his hammer mingling with the sighs of a sick wife, and now, fascine knife on hip, helmet on closely cropped head, officers' commands in ear, crowds of people, drums, music, and the shrill whistle of the locomotive!—to march far away to Bohemia; […]

Word Forms

• fascines
• fascining
• fascined

Related Words

When Should You Use Fascine?

Use fascine when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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