See Also: gargoyle(dictionary)
gargoyle(encyclopedia)
gargoyle(dictionary)
gargoyle cell(medicine)
Gargoyle Tongues(recipes)

gargoyle (iou)



gargoyle noun. ME.
[Old French gargouille throat, in a spec. sense from the water passing through the mouth of the figure, rel. to Latin gargarizare gargle, from Greek gargarizein, of imit. origin.]
A grotesque carving usu. in the form of a human or animal mouth, head, or body, projecting from the gutter of a building, esp. in Gothic architecture, and usu. acting as a spout to drain off rainwater.
Daily Telegraph Police talked him down from the roof of Amiens Cathedral...He had been balancing..near a gargoyle. transf.: Longfellow A tall brass candlestick with gruesome gargoyles carved on the base. C. Raine An old tormented master..screaming like a gargoyle.