Cheval-de-frise

(shev'aul-da-freez.) [Fr., a Fries land horse.] (Mil.) A term generally used in the plural, chevaux-de-frise, for a number of spikes of wood, pointed with iron, 5 or 6ft. long, fixed in a strong beam, and used as an abatis against cavalry, or to obstruct a breach, .;-it sometimes takes the name of tourniquet or turnpike. [s. 174]