Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An open space or notch between two merlons in a battlement or crenelated wall.
  • noun A crenature.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The peak at the top of a helmet.
  • noun Same as crenelle.
  • noun In botany, a tooth of a crenate leaf; a crenature.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun See crenelle.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The space between merlons in a crenelated battlement.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun one of a series of rounded projections (or the notches between them) formed by curves along an edge (as the edge of a leaf or piece of cloth or the margin of a shell or a shriveled red blood cell observed in a hypertonic solution etc.)
  • verb supply with battlements
  • noun a notch or open space between two merlons in a crenelated battlement

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French; see crenelated.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French crenel ( > modern French créneau), diminutive of cren ("notch").

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Examples

  • My legions were set in a convenient crenel overlooking the drawbridge and the low, swampy woods about a mile off to the west of the moat house.

    Virginity Sydney Kilgore 2010

  • Gerbert gave a snort of reluctant amusement and turned to look out through the crenel gap on a land lush with the melt-water and greenery of spring.

    The Falcons of Montabard Chadwick, Elizabeth 2004

  • 'When I was a little girl I used to slip away from my nurse, climb to the top of my uncle's keep and sit in the crenel spaces.

    The Falcons of Montabard Chadwick, Elizabeth 2004

  • The two men looked through the crenel and saw a herald approaching from the Saracen lines.

    The Falcons of Montabard Chadwick, Elizabeth 2004

  • Sabin paced along the wall walk and paused by the next crenel.

    The Falcons of Montabard Chadwick, Elizabeth 2004

  • Gasping from his climb, Strongfist lurched to the wall, leaned against a merlon and peered through the narrow crenel.

    The Falcons of Montabard Chadwick, Elizabeth 2004

  • Later, in the new spring, the dragon soared over the rocky plains, bringing back a holly bush, a crenel from ruined Nidus, a rickety hay wagon, and finally, his first killa small centicore that he must have pondered over for about a week, for the smell was so dreadful that the druidess threatened to sprout his tail with mushrooms unless he removed the carcass.

    The Dragons of Krynn Weis, Margaret 1994

  • Shaking himself, his self-possession recovered and his sweat dried, he lifted his knees and rolled into a crouch behind one of the merlons, peering through the crenel on its left.

    Nightside The Long Sun Wolfe, Gene 1993

  • He leaned out farther still, his hands braced on the bottom of the crenel, to reassure himself about the construction of the wall.

    Nightside The Long Sun Wolfe, Gene 1993

  • The edge of the crenel between two merlons was like a wedge driven into his back.

    Nightside The Long Sun Wolfe, Gene 1993

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