cabriole

American  

[kab-ree-ohl, ka-bree-awl] / ˈkæb riˌoʊl, ka briˈɔl /

noun

plural

cabrioles

1. Furniture. a curved, tapering leg curving outward at the top and inward farther down so as to end in a round pad, the semblance of an animal's paw, or some other feature: used especially in the first half of the 18th century.

2. Ballet. a leap in which one leg is raised in the air and the other is brought up to beat against it.

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cabriole British  

/ ˈkæbrɪˌəʊl /

noun

1. Also called: cabriole leg.  a type of furniture leg, popular in the first half of the 18th century, in which an upper convex curve descends tapering to a concave curve

2. ballet a leap in the air with one leg outstretched and the other beating against it

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Etymology

Origin of cabriole

1775–85; < French: leap, caper; so called because modeled on leg of a capering animal ( capriole ); b by influence of cabri kid (≪ Old Provençal ) and kindred words

Example Sentences

Eclectic elements that flout midcentury design conventions: a 1930s cabinet from the Cotswold in England, and a Danish dining table with comely cabriole legs that would make a strict modernist hyperventilate.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 29, 2016

‘The Danish dining table with cabriole legs would make a strict modernist hyperventilate.’

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 29, 2016

Its attenuated cabriole legs, delicate swags, and flowering-urn ornamentation reference the Louis XV period, but the diminutive artifact is surfaced in then-fashion-forward shagreen and ebony.

From Architectural Digest • Aug. 27, 2014

Whoever did what, it’s a glamorous golden set, often focused on Angelo’s gilded desk with cabriole legs and a few ornate chairs.

From New York Times • Aug. 19, 2012

According to Florio, the lavolta is a kind of turning French dance, in which the man turns the woman round several times, and then assists her in making a high spring or cabriole.

From Folk-lore of Shakespeare by Thiselton-Dyer, Thomas Firminger