squinch
/skwɪnt͡ʃ/ noun, verb
Forms squinches squinching squinched
- noun (architecture) A structure constructed between two adjacent walls to aid in the transition from a polygonal to a circular structure, as when a dome is constructed on top of a square room.
- verb (transitive) To scrunch up (one's face, etc.).
Synonyms
Etymology
Alteration of earlier scunch (“back part of the side of an opening”), short for scuncheon.
Uncertain. Probably blend of squint + pinch. Compare squink-eyed, variant of squint-eyed, so perhaps it is at least partly an altered form of squint.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A small arch thrown across the corner of a square room to support a superimposed mass, as where an octagonal spire or drum rests upon a square tower; --called also sconce, and sconcheon.
Etymology [Corrupted fr. sconce.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “squinch”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details