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gambrel

American  
[gam-bruhl] / ˈgæm brəl /

noun

  1. the hock of an animal, especially of a horse.

  2. Also called gambrel stick.  a wood or metal device for suspending a slaughtered animal.


gambrel British  
/ ˈɡæmbrəl /

noun

  1. the hock of a horse or similar animal

  2. a frame of wood or metal shaped like a horse's hind leg, used by butchers for suspending carcasses of meat

  3. short for gambrel roof

"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

Etymology

Origin of gambrel

1540–50; < Old North French gamberel, akin to French jambier legging, jambe leg

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.

Here, rooflines are Hitchcockian, with gable and gambrel shapes.

From Washington Post • Jan. 12, 2022

The owner of a longtime Summerland antiques barn had died, and the "historically delightful" 1921 structure — complete with gambrel roof and grounds with potential — was available.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 18, 2018

Its interior has three and a half levels and a central silo, with four gambrel dormers spaced evenly around the edge and a cupola at the top.

From Washington Times • Jun. 25, 2017

In the center of Paramaribo, the capital, whitewashed wooden colonial buildings, festooned with multi-storey balconies and gambrel roofs, sit alongside grassy canals, providing a flavor of the country’s past as a Dutch colony.

From Slate • Dec. 18, 2015

Its sides—clad in weather-beaten shingles and inset with a series of large windows—slanted obliquely inward, rising toward a gambrel roof.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown