CASTLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does castle mean? 

• CASTLE (noun)
  The noun CASTLE has 4 senses:

1. a large and stately mansion

2. a large building formerly occupied by a ruler and fortified against attack

3. (chess) the piece that can move any number of unoccupied squares in a direction parallel to the sides of the chessboard

4. interchanging the positions of the king and a rook

  Familiarity information: CASTLE used as a noun is uncommon.

• CASTLE (verb)
  The verb CASTLE has 1 sense:

1. move the king two squares toward a rook and in the same move the rook to the square next past the king

  Familiarity information: CASTLE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CASTLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A large and stately mansion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

castle; palace

Hypernyms ("castle" is a kind of...):

hall; manse; mansion; mansion house; residence (a large and imposing house)

Meronyms (parts of "castle"):

great hall (the principal hall in a castle or mansion; can be used for dining or entertainment)

Instance hyponyms:

Buckingham Palace (the London residence of the British sovereign)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A large building formerly occupied by a ruler and fortified against attack

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("castle" is a kind of...):

fortification; munition (defensive structure consisting of walls or mounds built around a stronghold to strengthen it)

Meronyms (parts of "castle"):

donjon; dungeon; keep (the main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress)

turret (a small tower extending above a building)

Instance hyponyms:

Balmoral Castle (a castle in northeastern Scotland that is a private residence of the British sovereign)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(chess) the piece that can move any number of unoccupied squares in a direction parallel to the sides of the chessboard

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

castle; rook

Hypernyms ("castle" is a kind of...):

chess piece; chessman (any of 16 white and 16 black pieces used in playing the game of chess)

Domain category:

chess; chess game (a board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king)

Derivation:

castle (move the king two squares toward a rook and in the same move the rook to the square next past the king)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Interchanging the positions of the king and a rook

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

castle; castling

Hypernyms ("castle" is a kind of...):

chess move (the act of moving a chess piece)

Derivation:

castle (move the king two squares toward a rook and in the same move the rook to the square next past the king)

• CASTLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they castle    ... he / she / it castles   
Past simple: castled   
Past participle: castled   
-ing form: castling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move the king two squares toward a rook and in the same move the rook to the square next past the king

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "castle" is one way to...):

go; move (have a turn; make one's move in a game)

Domain category:

chess; chess game (a board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

castle (interchanging the positions of the king and a rook)

castle ((chess) the piece that can move any number of unoccupied squares in a direction parallel to the sides of the chessboard)

castling (interchanging the positions of the king and a rook)

 Context examples 

When they reached the castle Dorothy said to the Winkies: Are any of your people tinsmiths?

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Many a time did he walk round and round as near to the hated castle as he dared go, but all in vain; he heard or saw nothing of Jorinda.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

You forget, Fanny, how lately all this has been built, and for how confined a purpose, compared with the old chapels of castles and monasteries.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk together freely and build our castles in the air.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He could marry her and take her down with him to dwell in the grass-walled castle in the Marquesas.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

You can turn your home into your castle this year, dear Libra, so show the universe your intent by starting now.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

“You may find the scath yourself, my lusty friend, if you raise your great cudgel to me. I had as lief have the castle drawbridge drop upon my pate.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We saw many ruined castles standing on the edges of precipices, surrounded by black woods, high and inaccessible.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

You know your castle wouldn't be perfect without, said blunt Jo, who had no tender fancies yet, and rather scorned romance, except in books.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

My echoing footsteps went to no other tune, but were as constant to that as if I had come home to build my castles in the air at a living mother's side.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)