What does "skewback" mean?

The side of an arch; the course of masonry on the top of an abutment with a slope for the base of the arch to rest against.

What is a synonym for "skewback"?

Common synonyms include: apse, arcade, arch, archway, camber, cove.

Skewback

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
The side of an arch; the course of masonry on the top of an abutment with a slope for the base of the arch to rest against.
"The avalanche shelter itself consists of a series of heavily reinforced arches, supported by substantial piers on the cliff-side, and on skewbacks cut deep into the rock on the other."

Synonyms

All synonyms

apse arcade arch archway camber cove

Example

More examples

"The avalanche shelter itself consists of a series of heavily reinforced arches, supported by substantial piers on the cliff-side, and on skewbacks cut deep into the rock on the other."

Etymology

From skew + back.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.