cheval de frise
Preserved but no longer current.
An apparatus consisting of a bar carrying rows of pointed stakes, set up so that the bar can revolve. It was used in warfare as a defence against enemy cavalry, and is so called because first employed by the Frisians — who had few or no horses — in the siege of Groningen, Friesland, in 1594. A somewhat similar engine had been used before, but was not called by the same name. In German it is "a Spanish horseman" (ein Spanischer Reiter).
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “cheval de frise” mean?
An apparatus consisting of a bar carrying rows of pointed stakes, set up so that the bar can revolve. It was used in warfare as a defence against enemy cavalry, and is so called because first employed by the Frisians — who had few or no horses — in the siege of Groningen, Friesland, in 1594. A somewhat similar engine had been used before, but was not called by the same name. In German it is "a Spanish horseman" (ein Spanischer Reiter).
Is “cheval de frise” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.