Meanings
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1
noun
A strong fortress that sits high above a city.
In the city’s midst the gleaming marble of a thousand steps climbed to the citadel where arose four pinnacles beckoning to heaven, and midmost between the pinnacles there stood the dome, vast, as the gods had dreamed it.
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2
noun
A stronghold or fortified place.
Intrenched within the citadel of our apartment, and cheered by the comfortings of a coal fire, we passed the day in letter-writing, conversation, or gazing from the sheltered security of our windows upon the agitated sea[…].
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3
noun
An armoured portion of a warship, housing important equipment.
Twenty-two of these — eleven per broadside — were on the main deck within a central citadel, essentially an armor-protected box in the middle of the ship. Also within the citadel were four 110-pdr. breech-loaders.
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4
noun
a stronghold into which people could go for shelter during a battle
Thesaurus
Etymology
From French citadelle, from Italian cittadella, diminutive of città (“city”), from Latin cīvitās.