Earthwork

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·noun An embankment or construction made of earth.

II. Earthwork ·noun Any construction, whether a temporary breastwork or permanent fortification, for attack or defense, the material of which is chiefly earth.

III. Earthwork ·noun The operation connected with excavations and embankments of earth in preparing foundations of buildings, in constructing canals, railroads, ·etc.