defilement
/dɪˈfaɪəlmənt/ · de·file·ment
noun
- The act of defiling; the process of making something dirty or impure. The defilement of the river by industrial waste sparked public outrage.
- The state of being defiled; a condition of impurity or corruption. She felt a deep sense of defilement after the scandal broke.
- In fortification, the protection of interior walls from enfilading fire, achieved by covering them or by a high parapet on the exposed side. The engineers added a defilement to the bastion to shield it from enemy artillery.
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Did you know? The fortification sense of 'defilement' derives from the French term 'défilé', originally meaning a narrow passage, and was adopted by English military engineers in the 1600s to describe protective wall treatments.