machicolations

Noun

machicolation (countable and uncountable, plural machicolations)

1. An opening between corbels that support a projecting parapet, or in the floor of a gallery or the roof of a portal, of a fortified building from which missiles can be shot or heated items dropped upon assailants attacking the base of the walls.
   • Leibourn Caſtle, Kent. A proſpect of the front of that caſtle. Over the gate, we are told, was a machicolation or contrivance, from whence, in caſe of a ſudden attack, great ſtones, boiling water, or melted lead, might be thrown down upon the aſſailants.1773 October, “III. The Antiquities of England and Wales: Being a Collection of Views of the Most Remarkable Ruins and Antient Buildings, Accurately Drawn on the Spot. […] By Francis Grose, Esq....

   Synonyms:

   machicoulis

2. A projecting parapet with a series of such openings.
   • The main walls were carried to the top of the fourth story, where a capacious machicolation enclosed the tower, on which there is a parapet wall of great thickness, with arches: this was to protect the persons employed over the machicolations.1816, [James Sargant Storer], “Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire”, in The Antiquarian Itinerary, Comprising Specimens of Architecture, Monastic, Castellated, and Domestic; […], volume VI, London...