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

Massive gates and crumbling machicolated walls command a green plain, where immense waringen-trees, clipped into the semblance of evergreen umbrellas, display the Eastern symbol of sovereignty.

From Through the Malay Archipelago by Emily Richings

The walls, which are of great strength, are surmounted by machicolated battlements, flanked at intervals by thirty-nine massive towers and pierced by several gateways, three of which date from the 14th century.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 "Austria, Lower" to "Bacon" by Various

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 elderly victim of my furious entry was lounging, in spite of the mistral, by the grim machicolated gateway.

From The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol by Alec Ball

The Ville Close, surrounded by ramparts and entered by a massive gateway flanked by machicolated towers, consists of narrow quiet streets bordered by houses of the 16th and 17th centuries.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various