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Glite Dictionary
corbie gable

corbie gable

9.9
A wall at the end of a roof with steps along the top like small stone stairs
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : frente de corbie
  • The old church featured a beautiful corbie gable that highlighted its medieval origins.

Examples

  • Traditional Scottish houses sometimes have a corbie gable for both style and structural reasons.

  • Many Scottish castles are known for their corbie gables.

  • Architectural historians admired the finely carved stonework on the corbie gable of the manor.

  • The old church features a stunning corbie gable.

  • Architectural historians admired the finely carved stonework on the corbie gable of the manor.

  • The old church featured a beautiful corbie gable that highlighted its medieval origins.

  • Traditional Scottish houses sometimes have a corbie gable for both style and structural reasons.

Synonyms

gable
vscorbie gable
19 6.6

A triangular part of a wall under a sloping roof

is that triangular portion but with stepped outline down its sides
gable wall
vscorbie gable
6.9

The triangular top part of a wall under a sloping roof

is the same wall form but with stepped outline along its sides

Surface Forms

corbie gable singular
corbie gables plural

Morphology

corbie + gable

The element 'corbie' is a rare, specialized lexical item (not listed in the provided dictionary entry) and the compound denotes a particular architectural feature (a gable with stepped/corbel steps) that is not transparently built from common, compositional meanings. Even though 'gable' is clear, the overall sense is a technical label rather than a predictable combination, so a B1 learner who merely knows the parts would not reliably infer the meaning.

Etymology

The noun corbie gable comes from Scots corbie meaning 'crow' and describes a gable with a stepped outline of stone ledges. One popular story says the jagged steps look like places where crows might sit, so the name came to mean a gable with those stepped sides.