GARGOYLE

Gargoyle

In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between. Architects often used multiple gargoyles on buildings to divide the flow of rainwater off the roof to minimize the potential damage from a rainstorm. A trough is cut in the back of the gargoyle and rainwater typically exits through the open mouth. Gargoyles are usually an elongated fantastic animal because the length of the gargoyle determines how far water is thrown from the wall. When Gothic flying buttresses were used, aqueducts ...

The above text is a snippet from Wikipedia: Gargoyle
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gargoyle

Noun

  1. A carved grotesque figure on a spout which conveys water away from the gutters.
  2. Any decorative carved grotesque figure on a building.
  3. A fictional winged creature.
  4. An ugly woman.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: gargoyle
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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