: a fortified place : stronghold
especially
: a large and permanent fortification sometimes including a town
Synonyms
Examples of fortress in a Sentence
the boys built a snow fortress and then challenged the neighborhood kids to an in-your-face snowball fight
Recent Examples on the Web
This mighty fortress, lying at the heart of England, was one of the largest in the kingdom.
—
Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 June 2024
Having seen the impressive architecture, cathedrals, and Prussian fortresses, travelers sail back to Dresden to end the week.
—Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 25 May 2024
The endless stretches of desert, the forbidding fortresses rising out of dead expanses, the raging sandstorms that turn characters into hazy Turner-smudges — none of these seem particularly real because, surely, they were never supposed to.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 15 May 2024
Even a fortress under siege has ways to acquire vital necessities, and the regime has proved adept at exporting goods to the east and importing contraband through, for instance, Turkey or some Central Asian countries.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 7 Apr. 2023
See all Example Sentences for fortress 
Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 June 2024
Having seen the impressive architecture, cathedrals, and Prussian fortresses, travelers sail back to Dresden to end the week.
—Patricia Doherty, Travel + Leisure, 25 May 2024
The endless stretches of desert, the forbidding fortresses rising out of dead expanses, the raging sandstorms that turn characters into hazy Turner-smudges — none of these seem particularly real because, surely, they were never supposed to.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 15 May 2024
Even a fortress under siege has ways to acquire vital necessities, and the regime has proved adept at exporting goods to the east and importing contraband through, for instance, Turkey or some Central Asian countries.
—Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 7 Apr. 2023
See all Example Sentences for fortress
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fortress.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Fortress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fortress. Accessed 30 Jun. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fortress
noun
for·tress
ˈfȯr-trəs 
: a fortified place
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