Banquette

banquette

1. A long, upholstered seat built in against a wall.

2. A raised, narrow walk along a roadway.

3. A term once used in some parts of the American South for a sidewalk.

4. Same as barbette.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Banquette

 

an embankment (step) along the inside slope of a high parapet; designed for the stationing of riflemen firing over the parapet. In the Soviet Army the term “banquette” has been replaced by the term strelkovaia stupen’ (shooting step).

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.