parapet

Noun

parapet (plural parapets)

1. A low protective wall.
   • Engineers will be closely checking the bridge for damage beyond the obvious smashed parapets.2020 August 26, “Mid-September before line reopens, says Network Rail”, in Rail, page 11
2. Part of a perimeter that extends above the roof.
   • Maccario, it was evident, did not care to take the risk of blundering upon a picket, and a man led them by twisting paths until at last the hacienda rose blackly before them. Appleby could see it dimly, a blur of shadowy buildings with the ridge of roof parapet alone cutting hard and sharp against...1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 26, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC
3. A fortification consisting of a wall.
   • Obviously if you have only a few days in which to train a soldier, you must teach him the things he will most need; how to take cover, how to advance across open ground, how to mount guards and build a parapet – above all, how to use his weapons.1938 April, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter I, in Homage to Catalonia, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   breastwork