FASCINE, a large faggot of brushwood used in the revet ments of earthworks and for other purposes of military engineer ing (from the Lat. fascina, fascis, a bundle of sticks) . The British service pattern of fascine is i8ft. long ; it is tied as tightly as pos sible at short intervals, and the usual diameter is gin. Similar bundles of wood formed part of the foundations of the early lake-dwellings, and in modern engineering fascines are used in making rough roads over marshy ground and in building river and sea walls and breakwaters.