machicolate

American  

[muh-chik-uh-leyt] / məˈtʃɪk əˌleɪt /

verb (used with object)

machicolated, machicolating

1. to provide with machicolations.

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machicolate British  

/ məˈtʃɪkəʊˌleɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to construct machicolations at the top of (a wall)

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Etymology

Origin of machicolate

First recorded in 1765–75; from Medieval Latin machecoll(um), a Latinization of unattested Middle French machecol literally, “(it) breaks (the) neck” (from the use of such openings to drop projectiles on an ascending attacker; mache, 3rd-person singular present of macher “to beat, break, bruise” (apparently of expressive origin) + col “neck, collar”) + -ate ¹; compare late Middle English machecollyd “machicolated”; see collar

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

machicolated

It had four great towers, crenelated and machicolated, after the best Gothic fortresses of the time.

From Castles and Chateaux of Old Touraine and the Loire Country by M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield

Of the stronghold little remains save the machicolated gate-way, flanked with ponderous round towers bearing quaint inscriptions.

From A Literary Pilgrimage Among the Haunts of Famous British Authors by Theodore F. (Theodore Frelinghuysen) Wolfe

She had passed beneath a machicolated gateway, and climbing a stairway that began in a watch-tower, found herself unexpectedly on a great platform.

From The Lady of the Mount by Frederic Stewart Isham

The part of the castle which is kept up is a single range of building; and an elegant machicolated tower, overlooking the whole, still p. 181frowns defiance on the petty innovations beneath. 

From A Tour throughout South Wales and Monmouthshire by J. T. Barber

It had thick machicolated towers at every corner, gates with drawbridges and barbicans.

From The Pobratim A Slav Novel by P. Jones