épaulement

[ French ey-pohl-mahn ]

/ French eɪ poʊlˈmɑ̃ /

a position in which the shoulders are at right angles to the direction of the supporting leg, with one shoulder thrust forward and one back.

Origin of épaulement

1680–90; < French, equivalent to épaule (see epaulet) + -ment -ment

We fortified the post by an epaulement or two for cannon, high up on the hillside covering the ferry and the road up New River.

Military Reminiscences of the Civil War V1 |Jacob Dolson Cox
Here he made a full stop, and the old gentleman repeated the question, "But pray what is an epaulement?"

The Adventures of Roderick Random |Tobias Smollett
Epaulement, e-pawl′ment, n. a side-work of a battery or earthwork to protect it from a flanking fire.

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) |Various
Some of the enemy, advancing from the epaulement, proceeded in pursuit, but were checked by the apparition of the Guards.

The British Expedition to the Crimea |William Howard Russell

I asked Mount, who was leaning over the epaulement, waiting patiently for a mark.

Cardigan |Robert W. Chambers