fort

fort — noun

1. a strong building or group of buildings with thick stone or concrete walls, buil

1.nounB2
Definition

a strong building or group of buildings with thick stone or concrete walls, built by an army to protect a place against enemy attack.

Example

The old stone fort stood on a hill overlooking the river valley.

collocation: stone fort

Ryo's great-grandfather helped build the fort during the war.

Common collocations
  • build a fort
  • defend a fort
  • attack a fort
  • stone fort
  • hill fort
  • ancient fort
  • surrender a fort
Synonyms
  • fortress

    a much larger, stronger fortification that often protects a whole town or region

  • stronghold

    a place that is strongly defended; also common in metaphorical use

  • citadel

    a fortress built inside or near a city, historically guarding the city centre

  • bastion

    originally a projecting part of a fort; now often used metaphorically for someone or something that defends a principle

Grammar Patterns

a/the + [adjective] + fort

Usage Note

Often used in the names of historical defensive buildings, written with a capital letter (e.g., Fort Sumter, Fort Knox).

Common Mistakes

Cooking is not her fort.
Cooking is not her forte.
'forte' (pronounced for-tay) means a person's strong skill; 'fort' is only a military building.

2. a military camp or post where soldiers live, train, and carry out their duties o

2.nounB2
Definition

a military camp or post where soldiers live, train, and carry out their duties over a long period.

Example

Camille was assigned to a remote fort near the desert border.

collocation: assigned to a fort

The army closed the old fort and moved the soldiers to a new base.

Common collocations
  • stationed at a fort
  • serve at a fort
  • close a fort
  • remote fort
  • army fort
  • fort commander
Synonyms
  • base

    the most common modern word for a place where military personnel live and operate from

  • camp

    often refers to a temporary or less permanent military post

  • garrison

    can refer either to the troops stationed at a fort or the fort itself; more formal

  • post

    common in American English for a military station (e.g., army post)

Grammar Patterns

at/in + a/the + fort

Usage Note

This sense focuses on the fort as a place where people live and work rather than purely as a defensive structure. In modern usage, 'base' or 'camp' is more common for active military posts.

Idioms

hold the fort

idiom

to take care of a place, a job, or a group of people while the person who is usually responsible is away.

Maeve asked her assistant to hold the fort while she was at the conference.

Tanvi held the fort at the office while her boss attended a two-day training course.

Word family

  • fortress
    nounB2
  • fortify
    verbC1
  • fortification
    nounC1
  • fortified
    adjectiveC1
  • fortitude
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For the sense of a fortified military structure, 'fort' is the most general and common term, referring to any building or group of buildings built to defend a location. A 'fortress' is larger and much stronger, often protecting an entire town or region with complex defensive walls and towers. A 'stronghold' is any place that is difficult to attack, and it is also widely used metaphorically (e.g., a stronghold of the rebel army). A 'citadel' is specifically a fortress built within or near a city, historically guarding the city centre. 'Bastion' originally refers to a projecting part of a fortification wall, though today it is far more common in metaphorical use, meaning a place or group that firmly defends a particular idea or principle. In everyday language, 'fort' is the simplest choice — you would say 'The soldiers defended the fort at dawn' but 'The soldiers defended the bastion at dawn' sounds noticeably metaphorical.

fortressstronghold ↗citadel ↗bastion

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

The word comes from Latin 'fortis', meaning 'strong'. It passed into Old French as 'fort' (a strong place), and then into English in the 1400s, carrying the meaning of a strongly built military structure. The related word 'fortress' entered English through the same path but with the Latin '-itia' suffix, giving it a sense of greater scale.