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squinch1

  (skwĭnch) pronunciation
squinch<sup>1</sup>
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squinch1
(Precision Graphics)
n.

A structure, such as a section of vaulting or corbeling, set diagonally across the interior angle between two walls to provide a transition from a square to a polygonal or more nearly circular base on which to construct a dome.

[Alteration of scuncheon, from Middle English sconchon, from Old French escoinson : es-, out of (from Latin ex-; see ex–) + coin, angle, wedge; see coin.]


squinch2 (skwĭnch) pronunciation
tr.v., squinched, squinch·ing, squinch·es.

To squeeze, twist, or draw together: squinched her eyes shut.

[Alteration of SQUINT.]


 
 
Thesaurus: squinch

verb

    To peer with the eyes partly closed: squint. Idioms: screw up one's eyes. See see/not see.

 
Architecture: squinch


1. Corbeling, often arcuate, built at the upper corners of a structural bay to support its tangent, smaller dome or drum.
2. A small arch across the corner of a square room which supports a superimposed mass; also called a sconce.

squinch, 2


 
in architecture, a piece of construction used for filling in the upper angles of a square room so as to form a proper base to receive an octagonal or spherical dome. It was the primitive solution of this problem, the perfected one being eventually provided by the pendentive. Squinches may be formed by masonry built out from the angle in corbeled courses, by filling the corner with a vise placed diagonally, or by building an arch or a number of corbeled arches diagonally across the corner. In Islamic architecture, especially in Persia, where it may have been invented, the squinch took the form of a succession of corbeled stalactites. It was also commonly used in the early churches of Europe and the East.


 
Wikipedia: squinch

A squinch in architecture is a piece of construction used for filling in the upper angles of a square room so as to form a proper base to receive an octagonal or spherical dome. It was the primitive solution of this problem, the perfected one being eventually provided by the pendentive. Squinches may be formed by masonry built out from the angle in corbelled courses, by filling the corner with a vise placed diagonally, or by building an arch or a number of corbelled arches diagonally across the corner.

In Islamic architecture, especially in Persia, where it may have been invented, the squinch took the form of a succession of corbelled stalactite-like structures known as muqarnas. It was also commonly used in the early churches of Europe and the East.


 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Squinch" Read more

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