Abater

One who, or that which, abates. Fig . 4.-ABATEMENT. Ab'at is, or Ab/att is. [Fr. abattis .] In military affairs, a kind of defence made of felled trees. In sudden emergencies, the trees are merely laid lengthwise beside each other, with the branches pointed outward to prevent the approach of the enemy. When the abatis is employed for the defence of a pa 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.