brattice

[ brat-is ]
/ ˈbræt ɪs /

noun

a partition or lining, as of planks or cloth, forming an air passage in a mine.
(in medieval architecture) any temporary wooden fortification, especially at the top of a wall.

verb (used with object), brat·ticed, brat·tic·ing.

to provide with a brattice (often followed by up).

Origin of brattice

1300–50; Middle English brutaske, bretage, bretice < Anglo-French bretaske, bretage, Anglo-French, Old French bretesche wooden parapet on a fortress < Medieval Latin (9th century) brittisca, apparently a Latinized form of Old English Bryttisc British (or a new formation in ML), on the presumption that such parapets were introduced from Britain

Example sentences from the Web for brattice

British Dictionary definitions for brattice

brattice
/ (ˈbrætɪs) /

noun

a partition of wood or treated cloth used to control ventilation in a mine
medieval fortifications a fixed wooden tower or parapet

verb

(tr) mining to fit with a brattice

Word Origin for brattice

C13: from Old French bretesche wooden tower, from Medieval Latin breteschia, probably from Latin Britō a Briton