embankment

Everyday

1. A long bank of earth or stone built to carry a road or railway, or to stop a river from flooding. tree →
2. A raised wall or path along a river, such as the Thames Embankment in London. tree →

In the lessons

In geography and science lessons embankments are flood defences and transport works. In The Wind in the Willows Toad on the run hides near a railway embankment. Safety: railway embankments are dangerous places to play.

Examples

• The train ran along a high embankment. tree →
• The river burst over the embankment in the flood. tree →
• We walked along the Thames Embankment in London. tree →
• Workers built an embankment to protect the town. tree →
• Never play on the railway embankment. tree →
• Grass and wild flowers grew on the steep embankment. tree →
• After a time she re-appeared as a bamboo growing on the embankment of the tank in which she had been drowned. tree →

Note

Countable: an embankment, two embankments. Related: bank (the side of a river), dyke or levee (US) for flood banks.