Cornice

Quick meaning: Cornice is a noun meaning (architecture) A decorative element applied at the topmost part of the wall of a room, as with a crown molding.

Meaning

(architecture) A decorative element applied at the topmost part of the wall of a room, as with a crown molding.

More Meanings

1. (furniture) A decorative element at the topmost portion of certain pieces of furniture, as with a highboy.
2. (geography, mountaineering) An overhanging edge of snow on a ridge or the crest of a mountain and along the sides of gullies.
3. (transitive) To furnish or decorate with a cornice.
4. (architecture) A horizontal architectural element of a building, projecting forward from the main walls, originally used as a means of directing rainwater away from the building's walls.

Example Sentences

Challenger looked up at the cornice and round at the skirting.

And blood was on the roof, and great gouts of blood on the walls and on the cornice of my bed.

It is a large square structure, two and a half stories in height, with a hipped roof rising above a handsome cornice with prominent modillions and surmounted by a balustraded belvedere.

That ceiling was covered with square compartments,[...] It was supported by a gilded cornice, carved into a thousand curious shapes and emblems, among which the horned wolf, the crest of the Avonleigh family, was conspicuous.

Word Forms

• cornices
• cornicing
• corniced

Synonyms for cornice

Depending on context, synonyms include valance, pelmet.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include pelmet, valance, dentil, ledge, ridge, cornish.

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