View synonyms for squinch

squinch

[ skwinch ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Architecture.

a small arch, corbeling, or the like, built across the interior angle between two walls, as in a square tower for supporting the side of a superimposed octagonal spire.

squinch

[ skwinch ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

squinch

/ skwɪntʃ /

a small arch, corbelling, etc, across an internal corner of a tower, used to support a superstructure such as a spire Also calledsquinch arch

Origin of squinch¹

1490–1500; variant of scunch, short for scuncheon, Middle English sconch ( e ) on < Middle French escoinson, esconchon; sconcheon

Origin of squinch²

1830–40; origin uncertain; squint

Origin of squinch¹

C15: from obsolete scunch , from Middle English sconcheon , from Old French escoinson , from es- ex- ¹+ coin corner

De squinch-owl done hush, en de win' done gone, en it look like de water done stop sneakin' en crawlin' und' de bank.

A squinch thrown across an arcade may be conjectured for strength were it not confuted by two buttresses on the outside.

And Cappy shook his head emphatically several times like a squinch-owl.

Business was business with Mr. Squinch, and social calls should be discouraged.

“Suppose that we say twenty-five hundred,” resumed Mr. Squinch.

April 18, 2024petrichor

[pet-ri-kawr]

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