crow steps
plural noun
Step-like projections on the sloping part of a gable, common in Flemish architecture and 16th- and 17th-century Scottish buildings.There are crow steps on the gables and a witch's turret on top of a round stair tower harking back to the 17th century....
- In the 16th century, the gables were crow-stepped and not with sloping sides, and later these crow steps were separated by curves.
- The extension was not fortified and had no crow steps on its single gable.
Derivatives
crow-stepped
- Here castles, towers, and fortified manor houses, often with turrets and ‘crow-stepped’ gables, predominated during the Middle Ages; the 16th and 17th cents. saw the beginnings of the Renaissance, with a distinct French influence.
- With my eye to the lens, I had the city in my lap and could hoard to myself an unfair share of steeples and spires and cupolas; crow-stepped gables, garrets and all the Old Town's lums came rushing toward me.
- With their high turrets, crow-stepped gables and old-fashioned charm, these two houses look like they could be twins.