\Bas*tile" Bas*tille"\, n. [F. bastille
fortress, OF. bastir to build, F. b?tir.]
1. (Feud. Fort.) A tower or an elevated work, used for the
   defense, or in the siege, of a fortified place.
         The high bastiles . . . which overtopped the walls.
                                               --Holland.
2. ``The Bastille'', formerly a castle or fortress in Paris,
   used as a prison, especially for political offenders;
   hence, a rhetorical name for a prison.