revetment

noun

Etymology: From French revêtement, from Old French revestiment, from revestir (French revêtir), from Late Latin revestire (“to clothe again”), from Latin re- + vestire (“to clothe”).

1. A layer of stone, concrete, or other hard material supporting the side of an embankment.

   “Findlayson, C. E., sat in his trolley on a construction line that ran along one of the main revetments—the huge stone-faced banks that flared away north and south for three miles on either side of the river and permitted himself to think of the end.”

   “A 200-ton rockfall recently blocked the Machynlleth sidings, trapping several locomotives; a rock-slip on the approach embankment to Talerddig required expensive revetting last year; and on the coastal section to Barmouth an 80 foot-high stone revetment was completed some time ago at Friog; [...].”

2. An ornamental facing, as on a common masonry wall, of marble, face brick, tiles, etc.
3. An armoured building that provides protection against bombs.