▪ I. embattled, ppl. a.1
(ɛmˈbæt(ə)ld)
[f. embattle v.1 + -ed.]
1. Drawn up in battle array, marshalled for fight.
| 1475 Bk. Noblesse (1860) 32 He comaunded the oost embatailed not forto breke. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 213 On their embattled ranks the waves return. 1677 Hobbes Homer's Iliad 137 See your men i' th' morn imbattled. 1790 Cowper Iliad ii. 536 The chiefs..may range Together, the imbattled multitude. 1816 Wordsw. Sonn. to Liberty xlii, Bondage threatened by the embattled East. 1866 Felton Anc. & Mod. Gr. I. vii. 108 The din of embattled squadrons. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1745 T. Warton Pleas. Melanch. 294 At her presence mild the embattled clouds Disperse in air. 1837–9 Hallam Hist. Lit. I. i. iv. §53. 297 The embattled legions of ignorance. |
2. Filled or covered with troops in battle array. Also fig.
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. (1613) 56 The Element euery night was embattailed with Armed men. 1725 Pope Odyss. xi. 369 Castor glorious on th' embattled plain. 1842 J. W. Orderson Creol. xviii. 217 He was..anxious to be at the first brunt of the embattled field. |
3. Fortified, made strong or secure against attack. Cf. embattled ppl. a.2
| 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. 263 That no subject can build a castle, or house of strength imbatteled..without the licence of the king. 1834 Bowring Minor Morals, Perseverance 146 Every feudal chief was obliged to shut himself up in high and embattled towers. 1879 Dixon Windsor I. iii. 28 Each manor was embattled for defence. |
4. fig. That is under attack or pressure; subject to or characterized by conflict; threatened, assailed.
| 1961 B. Lippincott Indians, Privateers, & High Soc. iv. 54 One historical authority presents laborious and circuitous testimony..that Massachusetts was behind the clouds settling down on the embattled Gorton. 1971 A. Sampson New Anat. Brit. xxxvi. 627 In its century of existence the Congress has become as much an embattled institution..as the government or companies it is fighting. 1972 Observer 25 June 5/3 He was transferred to Olinda and Recife, the ancient See which is now his embattled base. 1978 N.Y. Times 30 Mar. a14/1 Miller, the embattled president of the United Mine Workers, suffered..‘a mild stroke’ today. 1983 Times 18 Feb. 15/2 UDS, the embattled high-street retailing group, has agreed an all-share bid from Hanson Trust. 1984 Ibid. 13 Jan. 13/1 Britain's embattled newspaper groups are beginning to see better days. |
▪ II. embattled, ppl. a.2
(ɛmˈbæt(ə)ld)
[f. embattle v.2 + -ed1.]
1. Arch. Furnished with battlements, crenellated.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose, I saugh a gardyn..walled welle, With high walles enbatailled. 1525 Ld. Berners Froiss. II. clvii. [cliii.] 431 The whiche castell was enbatylled. 1538 Leland Itin. II. 40 An embatelid Waulle now sore yn ruine. 1769 Gray in Poems & Lett. (1775) 369 This seat..is an ancient hall-house, with a very large tower embattled. 1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle L. vii. 195 The old embattled walls still standing. |
2. Having an edge or outline shaped like a battlement; crenellated; spec. in Heraldry.
| c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 40 His comb was..Enbateled [other texts And batayld] as it were a castel wall. 1555 Fardle Facions ii. vii. 160 A copintancke, embatled aboute like a turrette. 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 29 b, Beareth Sables, & Gules, embatyled..three Fer-de-molyns d'Argente. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Embattled Line, in heraldry. 1803 Rees Cycl., Bretessed..a..charge..embattled on both sides opposite to each other. 1834 J. R. Planché Brit. Costume 222 Hats and caps..with embattled or escalloped edges. 1864 Boutell Heraldry Hist. & Pop. iii. (ed. 3) 18 A Fesse dancette or embattled. 1884 Harper's Mag. Mar. 529/2 The embattled cliffs and the..sea fill the view. |