A steep slope or embankment at the front of a fortified position or castle, designed to slow down enemy attackers.
From Middle English combining 'fore-' (front) + 'steep' (a slope); this military architectural term emerged during the medieval period when defenders engineered slopes to make attacks more difficult.
Medieval castle builders were early slope engineers—they calculated the exact angle of foresteeps so that enemy soldiers would slide back or be forced to slow down, turning gravity itself into a weapon.
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