GARGOYLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does gargoyle mean? 

• GARGOYLE (noun)
  The noun GARGOYLE has 2 senses:

1. a spout that terminates in a grotesquely carved figure of a person or animal

2. an ornament consisting of a grotesquely carved figure of a person or animal

  Familiarity information: GARGOYLE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GARGOYLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A spout that terminates in a grotesquely carved figure of a person or animal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

spout (an opening that allows the passage of liquids or grain)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An ornament consisting of a grotesquely carved figure of a person or animal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

decoration; ornament; ornamentation (something used to beautify)

 Context examples 

The face of the creature was like the wildest gargoyle that the imagination of a mad medieval builder could have conceived.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)