cheval de frise

\ʃə.val də fʁiz\

/\ʃə.val də fʁiz\/ noun

The verdict

“cheval de frise” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Aidé par le capitaine, il fit abattre une énorme quantité d’arbres afin de former un solide retranchement hérissé de chevaux de frise. — (Gustave Aimard, Les Trappeurs de l’Arkansas, Éditions Amyot...

Corpus desk

Index FR-cheval-de-frise · cheval de frise · French

cheval de frise · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 15 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for cheval de frise
PropertyValue
Headwordcheval de frise
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʃə.val də fʁiz\
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « cheval de frise » en français

cheval de frisen'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cheval de frise is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʃə.val də fʁiz\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for cheval de frise, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is cheval de frise, spelled C-H-E-V-A-L- -D-E- -F-R-I-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Aidé par le capitaine, il fit abattre une énorme quantité d’arbres afin de former un solide retranchement hérissé de chevaux de frise. — (Gustave Aimard, Les Trappeurs de l’Arkansas, Éditions Amyot, Paris, 1858)
  2. 2
    Grosse pièce de bois ou de métal, hérissée de pointes, pour faire barrage.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how cheval de frise appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. […], le général Brialmont fait justice, avec raison, d'une foule de procédés, tels que : chevaux de frise, croix de St-André, herses, planches à clous, etc. qui, depuis des années, surchargent les planches des traités de fortification passagère, sans qu'on puisse leur assigner une valeur réelle.
  2. Pour défendre l’accès des cuisines aux camarades intrépides, on a dressé des chevaux de frise, doublé les sentinelles allemandes et multiplié les adjudants français. Un vrai fortin.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cheval de frise"?
"cheval de frise" is spelled C-H-E-V-A-L- -D-E- -F-R-I-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃə.val də fʁiz\.
What does "cheval de frise" mean?
As a noun, "cheval de frise" means: Aidé par le capitaine, il fit abattre une énorme quantité d’arbres afin de former un solide retranchement hérissé de chevaux de frise. — (Gustave Aimard, Les Trappeurs de l’Arkansas, Éditions Amyot...
How do you pronounce "cheval de frise"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cheval de frise" is \ʃə.val də fʁiz\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cheval de frise" come from?
"cheval de frise" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list