frillwork

Noun

frillwork (uncountable)

1. A row or rows of frills.
   • Never did chisel define ermine so delicately as on this marble; and the lace scarf and frill-work is like lace itself.1854, John Overton Choules, chapter 12, in The Cruise of the Steam Yacht North Star, Boston: Gould and Lincoln, page 182
   • […] as time stole on, many little packets of absurdly small white garments with frill work and ribbons began to arrive among the big consignments of male necessities.1894, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Curse of Eve”, in Round the Red Lamp, London: Methuen, page 91
2. Ornamentation on a building or other structure resembling a row of frills.
   • Its exterior form and ornamentation is of the Swiss style, although the stories are higher than are generally used in Swiss buildings. The almost excessive frill work gives it a very pretty, although a rather tawdry appearance.1877, E. C. Hussey, Home Building, New York: Leader & Van Hoesen, Plate No. 14
   • The massive surrounding walls, built so as to take advantage of natural rock formations, now towered above us, and the spiky frillwork along the top suggested that at one time it had been a Turkish fortress […]1972, Joan Aiken, chapter 3, in A Cluster of Separate Sparks, Boston: G.K. Hall, published 1992