bulwark

• n. 壁垒；保障；防波堤
• vt. 保护；筑垒保卫

来自荷兰语。bul, 同bole, 树干。wark, 同work, 工作。原指对船只所做的加固和防御工作。后指堡垒。衍生单词boulevard, 大道。

bulwark

bulwark: [15] Bulwark comes from Middle High German bolwerc ‘fortification’, a compound formed from bole ‘plank’ (the same word as English bole ‘tree trunk’) and werc, equivalent to English work. It thus originally meant ‘rampart constructed out of planks or tree trunks’. The word was shared by other Germanic languages, including Swedish bolverk, and French borrowed it as boullewerc, which has since become boulevard.
=> bole, boulevard, work

bulwark (n.)

"planking or woodwork round the uppermost parts of a vessel," early 15c., from Middle Dutch bulwerke or Middle High German bolwerc, probably from bole "plank, tree trunk" (from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell;" see bole) + werc "work" (see work (n.)). Figurative sense "means of defense or security" is from 1570s.

来自《权威词典》

2. Our people's support is a bulwark against the enemy.

人民的支持是御敌的强大力量.

来自《简明英汉词典》

3. That country is a bulwark of freedom.

那个国家是自由的堡垒.

来自《简明英汉词典》

4. Law and morality are the bulwark of society.

法律和道德是社会的防御工具.

来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5. The House of Lords is the only bulwark of democracy in this country.

在这个国家，上议院是唯一的民主堡垒。

来自柯林斯例句