machicolation

American  

[muh-chik-uh-ley-shuhn] / məˌtʃɪk əˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

Architecture.

1. an opening in the floor between the corbels of a projecting gallery or parapet, as on a wall or in the vault of a passage, through which missiles, molten lead, etc., might be cast upon an enemy beneath.

2. a projecting gallery or parapet with such openings.

---

machicolation British  

/ məˌtʃɪkəʊˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. (esp in medieval castles) a projecting gallery or parapet supported on corbels having openings through which missiles could be dropped

2. any such opening

---

Etymology

Origin of machicolation

First recorded in 1780–90; machicolate + -ion

Explanation

A machicolation is an opening in a medieval castle for dropping rocks or boiling water on an enemy. It’s like a sneaky window in a castle that lets people drop stuff on their enemies to keep them from coming in. A machicolation is an opening — or series of openings — in a projecting parapet (low wall, like a ledge) between corbels (triangular brackets) on a medieval castle. You might forget those architectural terms, but you should remember what a machicolation is for: dropping stuff on invaders. The machicolation allows people in the castle to drop stones, boiling water, or other weapons on people attacking the castle. This is a great way to defend the castle without going outside.

Example Sentences

Consequently they were abandoned, and their places were taken by projecting galleries of stone, supported, not on wooden beams, but on stone corbels, and it is this second stage in fortification which is called machicolation.

From In Troubadour-Land A Ramble in Provence and Languedoc by Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)

So also is the masonry protection of the machicolation at the top of the donjon, a protection which at that time was usually given by wooden hoardings.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various

Tall towers, exactly square and equally bare of carving or machicolation, stood at intervals along this forbidding defence and flanked its curtain.

From The Path to Rome by Belloc, Hilaire