# bulwark

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbʊl.wək/ · frequency rank #38,770

## Definitions
1. A defensive wall or rampart.
2. A defense or safeguard.
3. A breakwater.
4. The planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale that reduces the likelihood of seas washing over the gunwales and people being washed overboard.
5. Any means of defence or security.

## Etymology
From Middle English bulwerk, from Middle Dutch bolwerk, bolwerc and Middle Low German bolwerk, equivalent to bole (“tree trunk”) + work. Cognate with German Bollwerk, Danish bolværk, Swedish bålverk, Dutch bolwerk. Doublet of boulevard (from French boulevard, from Dutch); cognate with Portuguese and Spanish baluarte and Italian baluardo.

## Common misspellings (11)
`bbulwark`, `bluwark`, `bulawrk`, `bullwark`, `bulwakr`, `bulwarkk`, `bulwarrk`, `bulwrak`, `bulwwark`, `buwlark`, `ublwark`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bulwark