copestone

American  

[kohp-stohn] / ˈkoʊpˌstoʊn /

noun

1. the top stone of a building or other structure.

2. a stone used for or in coping.

3. the crown or completion; finishing touch.

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copestone British  

/ ˈkəʊpˌstəʊn /

noun

1. Also called: coping stone.  a stone used to form a coping

2. Also called: capstone.  the stone at the top of a building, wall, etc

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Etymology

Origin of copestone

First recorded in 1560–70; cope ² + stone

Example Sentences

He stopped dead, flung the bandbox over a garden wall, and leaping upward with incredible agility and seizing the copestone with his hands, he tumbled headlong after it into the garden.

From New Arabian Nights by Stevenson, Robert Louis

The horrid shrieks of the Chouette served to place the copestone on the fury of the Schoolmaster.

From The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 4 of 6 by Sue, Eugène

He raised himself from the copestone of the parapet, and solemnly tramped his steady way up to the "onstead" of Craig Ronald, which took shape before him as he advanced like a low, grey-bastioned castle.

From The Lilac Sunbonnet by Crockett, S. R. (Samuel Rutherford)

He stopped dead, flung the bandbox over a garden wall, and, leaping upward with incredible agility and seizing the copestone with his hands, he tumbled headlong after it into the garden.

From The Boy Scouts Book of Stories by Louderback, Walt

These are of various forms, but they are mostly tripods, consisting of a copestone poised upon three other stones, two at the head and one at the foot.

From Roman Mosaics Or, Studies in Rome and Its Neighbourhood by Macmillan, Hugh