CORNICE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does cornice mean? 

• CORNICE (noun)
  The noun CORNICE has 3 senses:

1. a decorative framework to conceal curtain fixtures at the top of a window casing

2. a molding at the corner between the ceiling and the top of a wall

3. the topmost projecting part of an entablature

  Familiarity information: CORNICE used as a noun is uncommon.

• CORNICE (verb)
  The verb CORNICE has 1 sense:

1. furnish with a cornice

  Familiarity information: CORNICE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CORNICE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A decorative framework to conceal curtain fixtures at the top of a window casing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cornice; pelmet; valance; valance board

Hypernyms ("cornice" is a kind of...):

frame; framework (a structure supporting or containing something)

Derivation:

cornice (furnish with a cornice)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A molding at the corner between the ceiling and the top of a wall

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("cornice" is a kind of...):

molding; moulding (a decorative strip used for ornamentation or finishing)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The topmost projecting part of an entablature

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("cornice" is a kind of...):

projection (any structure that branches out from a central support)

Holonyms ("cornice" is a part of...):

entablature ((architecture) the structure consisting of the part of a classical temple above the columns between a capital and the roof)

Derivation:

cornice (furnish with a cornice)

• CORNICE (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Furnish with a cornice

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "cornice" is one way to...):

furnish; provide; render; supply (give something useful or necessary to)

Domain category:

architecture (the discipline dealing with the principles of design and construction and ornamentation of fine buildings)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

cornice (the topmost projecting part of an entablature)

cornice (a decorative framework to conceal curtain fixtures at the top of a window casing)

 Context examples 

I wandered, on a moonlight night, through the grass- grown enclosure within: here I stumbled over a marble hearth, and there over a fallen fragment of cornice.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It was a broad panelled staircase, with massive balustrades of some dark wood; cornices above the doors, ornamented with carved fruit and flowers; and broad seats in the windows.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Gold and scarlet in arabesque designs gleamed upon the walls, with gilt dragons and monsters writhing along cornices and out of corners.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Roses covered the walls of the house, draped the cornices, climbed the pillars, and ran riot over the balustrade of the wide terrace, whence one looked down on the sunny Mediterranean, and the white-walled city on its shore.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Unlike Gatsby and Tom Buchanan I had no girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs and so I drew up the girl beside me, tightening my arms.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)