rasant, a. Mil.
(ˈreɪzənt)
Also razant. Now rare.
[a. F. rasant, pres. pple. of raser to rase v.1: see Littré. So also Pg. rasante.]
In fortification: Sweeping, grazing. (Cf. quots.)
| 1696 Phillips (ed. 5) s.v., Line of defence Rasant, so called, because the shot from thence only shaves but makes no Breach. 1706 Accomplished Officer iv. 36 In this Case you must suppose razant Fortifications. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., In fortification, rasant flank, or line, is that part of the curtin, or flank, whence the shot exploded rase or glance along the face of the opposite bastion. 1830 E. S. N. Campbell Dict. Milit. s.v. Razant. 1944 S. Putnam tr. E. da Cunha's Rebellion in Backlands v. 256 Eight hundred rifles blazing, eight hundred rifles aimed in a rasant line down the drop of the hill. |