Cor"bel (?), n. [F. corbeau, for older corbel, dim. of L. corbis basket. (Corbels were often in the form of a basket.) See Corbeil.] Arch.
A bracket supporting a superincumbent object, or receiving the spring of an arch. Corbels were employed largely in Gothic architecture.
⇒ A common form of corbel consists of courses of stones or bricks, each projecting slightly beyond the next below it.
© Webster 1913.
Cor"bel, v. t.
To furnish with a corbel or corbels; to support by a corbel; to make in the form of a corbel.
To corbel out, to furnish with a corbel of courses, each projecting beyond the one next below it.
© Webster 1913.