machicolation

[ muh-chik-uh-ley-shuhn ]

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

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of machicolation¹

First recorded in 1780–90; machicolate + -ion

Example Sentences

The transport sphere plowed along the trench, past all the fortified city’s defenses: walls, moats, machicolations, crossbow cannons, drawbridges, bristling spear pits, bladed gates, and giant mechanical grinders.

From Literature

Arthur, who had been playing with a loose stone which he had dislodged from one of the machicolations, got tired of thinking and leaned over with the stone in his hand.

From Literature

In those times the besiegers of a fortress were often assailed with boiling pitch, poured by the besieged through the machicolations of the wall constructed for such purposes.

From Project Gutenberg

There is no glacis or moat, but the machicolations, sixty feet or more up from the ground, must have afforded a well-nigh perfect means of repelling a near attack.

From Project Gutenberg

A few feet farther on was a portcullis, and then a second, the space between protected by loopholes and machicolations. 

From Project Gutenberg