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debouch

/dɪˈbaʊtʃ/
IPA guide

Other forms: debouched; debouching; debouches

When soldiers debouch, they march out of a very narrow space. Troops might debouch out of a long pass between mountains, for example.

When military troops debouch, they march in a long, narrow line — sometimes single file — because of the width of the area they're moving through. As they debouch, the soldiers emerge in a larger area, like an open field. The narrow space is known as a defile in military terminology. The verb debouch has a French root, déboucher, which combines , or "removal," and bouche, "mouth."

Definitions of debouch
  1. verb
    march out (as from a defile) into open ground
    “The regiments debouched from the valley”
    synonyms: march out
    see moresee less
    type of:
    march, process
    march in a procession
  2. verb
    pass out or emerge; especially of rivers
    “The tributary debouched into the big river”
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