Dictionary entry

Caponiere

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Cap′o‐niere″ (?), n. [F. caponnière, fr. Sp. caponera, orig., a cage for fattening capons, hence, a place of refuge; cf. It. capponiera. See Capon.] (Fort.) A work made across or in the ditch, to protect it from the enemy, or to serve as a covered passageway.