The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Ab′atis

AB′ATIS, or ABATTIS, in military affairs, a defense made of felled trees. In sudden emergencies, the trees are merely laid length-wise beside each other, with the branches pointed outward to prevent the approach of the enemy. When employed for the defense of a pass or entrance, the boughs of the trees are stripped of their leaves and pointed, the trunks are planted in the ground, and the branches interwoven with each other; and the abatis is laid in a depression in front of a trench, for protection from artillery fire.