crenel
Americannoun
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any of the open spaces between the merlons of a battlement.
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a crenature.
verb (used with object)
noun
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any of a set of openings formed in the top of a wall or parapet and having slanting sides, as in a battlement
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another name for crenation
Etymology
Origin of crenel
1475–85; earlier creneul, crennel < Middle French, Old French, apparently diminutive of cren notch (attested since the 15th century), Old French cran, of uncertain origin; crenate, cranny
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The crenels are all flat now. It’s slippy and feels dangerous when I walk on it.”
From Time
Drifts climbed the walls and filled the crenels along the battlements, white blankets covered every roof, tents sagged beneath the weight.
From Literature
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On the inside of the rampart and in the wide crenel between two upthrust merlons.
From Literature
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Over it there is sprung a high-arched, rough stone bridge, with crenelled walls, quite as artistic in its way as may be found in pictures of ancient English brook-crossings.
From Project Gutenberg
Leaning into a crenel between two square merlons, Simon took a deep breath of the mild spring air.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.