Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Bastille
{
Bas-tile′
Bas-tille′
}(bȧs-tēl′ or bȧs′tē̍l; 277)
, Noun.
[F.
bastille
fortress, OF. bastir
to build, F. bâtir
.] 1.
(Feud. Fort.)
A tower or an elevated work, used for the defense, or in the siege, of a fortified place.
The high
bastiles
. . . which overtopped the walls. Holland.
2.
“The Bastille”, formerly a castle or fortress in Paris, used as a prison, especially for political offenders; hence, a rhetorical name for a prison.