fortification

Noun

fortification (countable and uncountable, plural fortifications)

1. The act of fortifying; the art or science of fortifying places to strengthen defence against an enemy.
   • Premier Raymond Poincaré, ever an arch militarist, took full advantage of last week’s war scare in the Belgian Parliament to trumpet through the inspired Parisian press that France must drastically increase her armaments. While this propaganda was at its height, he announced to the Chamber that the...1927 February 28, “FRANCE: Poincaré’s Week”, in TIME, archived from the original on 29 Apr 2025
2. That which fortifies; especially, a work or works erected to defend a place against attack; a fortified place; a fortress; a fort; a castle.
   • Kenett states that the military works still known by the name of Tadmarten Camp and Hook-Norton Barrow were cast up at this time ; the former, large and round, is judged to be a fortification of the Danes, and the latter, being smaller and rather a quinquangle than a square, of the Saxons.1881, John Kirby Hedges, The history of Wallingford, volume 1, page 170
   • “[…] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic?[…]”1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   bastion

3. An increase in effectiveness, as by adding ingredients.
   • Compare the nutrition information label of a regular ready-to-eat fortified cereal with that of a presweetened brand and you'll note that, although the sweetened one's sugar content is higher, the fortification is virtually identical.1979 July, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, volume 33, number 7, page 47
4. A jagged pattern sometimes seen during an attack of migraine.