What does palisade mean?
Word: Palisade
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Palisade means a tall, strong fence of wooden or metal posts with pointed tops.
Synonyms: stockade
Word origin: Comes through French from Latin palus.
How do you spell palisade?
Syllables: pal - i - sade
Tricky part: The weak vowel after the l is an i, so palasade and palesade are the usual slips.
Watch out for: palasade, palesade
Memory tip: Think of the letter i in the middle as one tall, thin post standing in the fence.
Palisade in a sentence
Example 1: The old trading post was ringed by a palisade of sharpened logs.
Example 2: Sunlight fell in stripes through the gaps in the palisade.
Example 3: The museum has rebuilt part of the palisade around its model village.
Fun Fact
Archaeologists digging at Patna have found long stretches of the timber palisade that once ringed the Mauryan capital, Pataliputra.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Champ
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
palis____
a) ide
b) ayd
c) ade
d) aid
Show answer
c) ade. Parade and lemonade show how this long a sound is written.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option: Palisade comes from the Latin word palus. What did palus mean?
a) a stake
b) a wall
c) a gate
d) a ditch
Show answer
a) a stake. A palisade is a row of them driven into the ground side by side.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
dsaeialp
a) a barrier of upright timbers round a settlement
b) a narrow lane between two tall buildings
c) a deep trench of water dug around a castle
d) a wide flat stretch of high open land
Show answer
a) a barrier of upright timbers round a settlement. Put in order, the letters name the palisade, a fence of upright timbers.
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) parapet
b) rampart
c) turret
d) pallisade
Show answer
d) pallisade. This word has one l; the other three are spelt correctly.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Settlers at the edge of a forest might build a palisade mainly to ___.
a) keep wild animals out at night
b) mark the hours of the day
c) grow climbing beans for food
d) collect rainwater for their crops
Show answer
a) keep wild animals out at night
2. From a distance, the top of a palisade looks most like ___.
a) a gentle curve of hills
b) a flat shelf on a wall
c) a row of sharpened pencils
d) a ruled line on a page
Show answer
c) a row of sharpened pencils
