[英和辞典] （人・動物の頭部を奇怪に形どった）屋根の雨水の落とし口（ゴシック建築などの特徴）
[英英辞典]
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day for October 31, 2007 is:
gargoyle • \GAR-goy-ul\ • noun
*1 a : a spout in the form of a grotesque human or animal figure projecting from a roof gutter to throw rainwater clear of a buildingb : a grotesquely carved figure 2 : a person with an ugly face
Example sentence:
The monastery’s gargoyles had supposedly been modeled on the faces of monks who had formerly resided there.
Did you know?
In the 12th century, St. Bernard of Clairvaux reportedly complained about the new sculptures in the cloisters where he lived. "Surely," he is quoted as saying, "if we do not blush for such absurdities we should at least regret what we have spent on them." St. Bernard was apparently provoked by the grotesque figures designed to drain rainwater from buildings. By the 13th century, those figures were being called "gargoyles," a name that came to Middle English from the Old French "gargoule." The stone beasts may have earned that name because of the water that gargled out of their throats and mouths.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.