horseshoe arch

American  

noun

1. an arch with the intrados widening above the springing and then narrowing to a rounded crown.

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horseshoe arch British  

noun

1. an arch formed in the shape of a horseshoe, esp as used in Moorish architecture

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Etymology

Origin of horseshoe arch

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

horseshoe arch

We look at once for the hand and key so often referred to by Irving, and distinguish them with difficulty—the first over the outermost horseshoe arch, the latter over the middle arch.

From Southern Spain by Calvert, A. F. (Albert Frederick)

Each of the columns upholds a small pilaster, and between them is a horseshoe arch, no two of the columns being alike.

From Foot-prints of Travel or, Journeyings in Many Lands by Ballou, Maturin Murray

Twenty-eight feet above the pavement, over the horseshoe arch, a cabalistic key and a gigantic hand are carved on two stones.

From The Moors in Spain by Lane-Poole, Stanley

There is an extremely curious canopy, being a sort of horseshoe arch, surmounting and breaking into a circular arch, at Tournai.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2 "Camorra" to "Cape Colony" by Various

Its ceiling, which described the horseshoe arch of the Saracens, was encrusted with that honeycomb work which is peculiar to them, and which, in the present instance, was of rose colour and silver.

From Tancred Or, The New Crusade by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield