gable

[ gey-buh l ]

/ ˈgeɪ bəl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR gable ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Architecture.

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.

Nearby words

Origin of gable

1325–75; Middle English < Old French (of Germanic orig.); cognate with Old Norse gafl; compare Old English gafol, geafel a fork

Related formsga·ble·like, adjective

Gable

[ gey-buh l ]

/ ˈgeɪ bəl /

noun

(William) Clark,1901–60, U.S. film actor.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for gable

The trouble with Gable was that he was under contract to MGM.
How 'Gone With the Wind' Got Made|Helen Anders|September 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The same violent, primal appeal appeared on-screen and off-screen with Gable.
The Secret of Don Draper's Sex Appeal|Natasha Vargas-Cooper|July 22, 2010|DAILY BEAST
You did not playfully invite Gable in for sex hoping he would be courteous.
The Secret of Don Draper's Sex Appeal|Natasha Vargas-Cooper|July 22, 2010|DAILY BEAST
My mother also liked GWTW because she thought that Gable was “almost as handsome as Duke Ellington.”
Shut Up, Scarlett!|Stanley Crouch|December 19, 2009|DAILY BEAST

In ten minutes more, the two slipping in by well-known paths, stood under the gable of the great hall.
Hereward, The Last of the English|Charles Kingsley
Gable, the upright triangular piece of masonry or woodwork at the end of a roof.
The Children of Westminster Abbey|Rose G. Kingsley
A bell under a small belfry hung over the gable of the stables.
From a Swedish Homestead|Selma Lagerlf
The roof was thatched, and perhaps had a gable at each end with a hole to allow the smoke of the wood fire to escape.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 2|Various
I threw over the free end of the cord and crouched upon the beak of the gable to lower myself.
The Shoes of Fortune|Neil Munro

British Dictionary definitions for gable

gable

/ (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

Derived Formsgabled, adjectivegable-like, adjective

Word Origin for gable

C14: Old French gable, probably from Old Norse gafl; related to Old English geafol fork, Old High German gibil gable

Gable

/ (ˈɡeɪbəl) /

noun

(William) Clark. 1901–60, US film actor. His films include It Happened One Night (1934), San Francisco (1936), Gone with the Wind (1939), Mogambo (1953), and The Misfits (1960)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for gable

gable

mid-14c., from Old French gable "facade, front, gable," from Old Norse gafl "gable, gable-end" (in north of England, the word is probably directly from Norse), probably from Proto-Germanic *gablaz "top of a pitched roof" (cf. Middle Dutch ghevel, Dutch gevel, Old High German gibil, German Geibel, Gothic gibla "gable"), from PIE *ghebhel.

Cognates seem to be words meaning both "fork" (cf. Old English gafol, geafel, Old Saxon gafala, Dutch gaffel, Old High German gabala "pitchfork," German Gabel "fork;" Old Irish gabul "forked twig") and "head" (cf. Old High German gibilla, Old Saxon gibillia "skull").

Possibly the primitive meaning of the words may have been 'top', 'vertex'; this may have given rise to the sense of 'gable', and this latter to the sense of 'fork', a gable being originally formed by two pieces of timber crossed at the top supporting the end of the roof-tree." [OED]

Related: Gabled; gables.

gable

noun Architecture.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of gable

Gable

noun

Examples from the Web for gable

gable

noun

Word Origin for gable

Gable

noun

gable