skewback

English

Etymology

From skew +‎ back.

Noun

skewback (plural skewbacks)

1. (architecture) 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.
   • 1943 March and April, “A British Avalanche Shelter”, in Railway Magazine, page 80:

     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.

References

• “skewback”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.