gable
1 Americannoun
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the portion of the front or side of a building enclosed by or masking the end of a pitched roof.
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a decorative member suggesting a gable, used especially in Gothic architecture.
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Also called gable wall. a wall bearing a gable.
noun
noun
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the triangular upper part of a wall between the sloping ends of a pitched roof ( gable roof )
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a triangular ornamental feature in the form of a gable, esp as used over a door or window
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the triangular wall on both ends of a gambrel roof
noun
Other Word Forms
- gable-like adjective
- gabled adjective
- gablelike adjective
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”
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.
Among them are working drawings that prescribe the profile of every block of stone, each keyed to its exact place in the building, whether gable, tracery or buttress.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
Pam said she visited Derry last year and is disappointed to see the changes to the gable wall.
From BBC • Sep. 12, 2024
Todd Brunner buys this home, with three upstairs bedrooms and a steep, gable roof, in the spring of 2003.
From Salon • Nov. 17, 2022
The countertops are reclaimed white oak, and the sink is soapstone from Albemarle County, Va. A stone gable wall with a seven-foot cooking fireplace was built from stones on the property.
From Washington Post • Jun. 3, 2022
Before I follow, I stop at the gable end of a bombed-out block to wait for my little brother.
From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell
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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.