a town of France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Meuse, on the Mense, which here becomes navigable, 28 miles N. of Bar-le-Duc. It is enclosed by walls and bastions, and further defended by a citadel constructed by Vauban, and separated from the town by an esplanade planted with trees. The houses are generally well built, but the streets are badly paved, and many of them very steep. The Mense flows through the middle of the town, and divides into five branches, which unite again outside the walls. Among the public buildings the most remarkable are the cathedral, episcopal palace, public library, and cavalry barracks. There are also here courts of law, a college, episcopal seminary, and various schools and hospitals. The principal manufactures are of sugar-plums, and liqueurs, for which Verdun is famous; but the town has also sugar-refineries, breweries, dye-works, tanneries, &c.; as well as a considerable trade in manufactured goods, wine, fruit, and oil. Pop. (1856) 12,742.