Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CHEV-AL-DE-FRISE, n. [Generally used in the plural, Chevaux de frise, pronounced shevo de freez. Fr. cheval, a horse, and frise, any thing curled, rough, entangled; the horse of frise, or frizzled horse. Hence called also turnpike, tourniquet.]

1. A piece of timber traversed with wooden spikes, pointed with iron, five or six feet long; used to defend a passage, stop a breach, or make a retrenchment to stop cavalry.
2. A kind of trimming.