bastion - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

When the battle is getting long and the odds are getting longer, retreat to your bastion to regroup and prepare for the next round of fighting. A bastion is a stronghold or fortification that remains intact.

French Independence Day, or Bastille Day (July 14), commemorates the storming in 1789 of the French king's prison/fort, the Bastille. Bastion and Bastille share the root bast, which means "build." Bastion can refer to any place to which one turns for safety; that can include not only buildings but also concepts, ideas, and even beliefs. The Church, for example, is a bastion of many religious beliefs.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: bastion

1	n	projecting part of a rampart or other fortification
2	n	a group that defends a principle

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: bastion

1

n projecting part of a rampart or other fortification

Type of:: fortification, munition
defensive structure consisting of walls or mounds built around a stronghold to strengthen it

n a stronghold into which people could go for shelter during a battle

Synonyms:: citadel

Examples:: Kremlin
citadel of Moscow, housing the offices of the Russian government

Types:: acropolis
the citadel in ancient Greek towns; kremlin
citadel of a Russian town

Type of:: fastness, stronghold
a strongly fortified defensive structure

2

n a group that defends a principle

“a bastion against corruption”

“the last bastion of communism”

Type of:: defence, defence force, defense, defense force
an organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack