parados (plural parados or paradoses)
(military) Generally a screen or embankment to protect the rear of a position from enemy attack, from bomb splinters from behind, from enemy fire from a commanding height, or fire from flanking positions. In common English usage since World War II, the term "parados", particularly in trench warfare, has largely been discarded in favour of "rear parapet", which, etymologically speaking, is a contradiction in terms. In some contexts the term "rear traverse" is preferred, but no usage is exclusive.
In fortifications that were enfiladed by enemy in positions commanding the fort, an internal parados could defilade the enemy, serving as physical protection and blindage. Usages of the term have varied inconsistently according to times and sources. Some sources use parados as a synonym for a traverse; some other sources represent parados as a special class of traverse and not necessarily at the back of any particular position.
In trench warfare parados referred to a bank of earth or similar material behind the rear of the trench, opposite the parapet, affording protection from explosions and fragments when shells or bombs overshot the trench.
• Not to be confused with parodos.
• Spadaro
Source: Wiktionary
Par`a*dos, n.; pl. Paradoses. Etym: [F., fr. parer to defend + dos back, L. dorsum.] (Fort.)
Definition: An intercepting mound, erected in any part of a fortification to protect the defenders from a rear or ricochet fire; a traverse. Farrow.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
2 April 2025
(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”
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