gable
noun
the portion of the front or side of a building enclosed by or masking the end of a pitched roof.
gable
1 American
[gey-buhl]
/ ˈgeɪ bəl /
noun
Architecture.
-
gables
plural
-
the portion of the front or side of a building enclosed by or masking the end of a pitched roof.
-
a decorative member suggesting a gable, used especially in Gothic architecture.
-
Also called gable wall. a wall bearing a gable.
Gable
2
American
[gey-buhl]
/ ˈgeɪ bəl /
noun
gable
1
British
/ ˈɡeɪbəl /
noun
-
the triangular upper part of a wall between the sloping ends of a pitched roof ( gable roof )
-
a triangular ornamental feature in the form of a gable, esp as used over a door or window
-
the triangular wall on both ends of a gambrel roof
Gable
2
British
/ ˈɡeɪbəl /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of gable
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Old French (of Germanic origin); cognate with Old Norse gafl; compare Old English gafol, geafel “a fork”
Explanation
A gable is the triangular part of a house's exterior wall that supports a pointed or peaked roof. Gothic-style houses are well known for their many gables. Houses and buildings with pitched roofs have front-facing or side-facing gables — or often, both. The shape and structure of these pointed gables help support a house's roof and give the building a particular architectural style. Nathaniel Hawthorne famously wrote about a building with this architectural feature in The House of the Seven Gables. Gable, originally an Old French word meaning "facade or front," is from the Old Norse gafl, "gable-end," or "gable."
Vocabulary lists containing gable
Beowulf
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The Cay
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Built To Last: Architectural Parlance
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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.
See Examples For:
Inscribed “The Moost Happi,” it shows Anne with a gable hood and an unmonogrammed necklace.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
The mural covers the gable end wall of a 19th Century Category C listed building overlooking the narrow School Wynd.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2023
The entrance hall had its own gable tile roof.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 18, 2023
That is where they built their current Colonial-style home with a gable roof and hardwood floors, three bedrooms and four full baths, according to local property records.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 13, 2023
The workbench took up a whole gable wall of the barn.
From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker
We used to have Cary Grant and Clark Gable and all these people.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
This is what happened to software engineer Gable Brown when he traveled to San Francisco for a week of onboarding at a new job last month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
The academy, previously named Ortu Gable Hall School under its former administration, was rated "inadequate" by Ofsted in its most recent inspection in May 2022.
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025
It used to be a hotel rumored to have ties to Clark Gable, and all of the 100-year-old architectural details are original.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2025
We each take another donut, and then the three of us proceed to visit with Clark Gable.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
These furry creatures are a familiar sight, known to roost in chimneys and in the gables of old churches.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 20, 2023
The firm’s towers almost never had flat tops; instead, they had pyramids or domes or lanterns or gables or, sometimes, a combination of them all.
From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2023
Successive Greek governments have lobbied for the return of the British Museum’s share of the works, which include statues from the Parthenon’s pediments - the all-marble building’s gables.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 3, 2022
Hohnen bought the Milwood Avenue property for $1.95 million in 2014 and quickly took the homes down to framing, then rebuilt with replicated gables and rooflines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2020
The house was big, but not enormous, with lots of gables and even a turret.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
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.
