Projections resembling steps on the sloping part of a gable, common in Flemish architecture and 16th- and 17th-century Scottish buildings.
阶梯式山墙压顶（常见于荷式建筑风格和16、17世纪的苏格兰建筑物）
Also called corbie steps
Example sentencesExamples
There are crow steps on the gables and a witch's turret on top of a round stair tower harking back to the 17th century.
The extension was not fortified and had no crow steps on its single gable.
In the 16th century, the gables were crow-stepped and not with sloping sides, and later these crow steps were separated by curves.
The Castle never had battlements or turrets, which would have been considered merely ornamental at this period; all four gables are finished with crow steps.
This project typically works with the Scottish traditional architecture, often referred to as the Scots Baronial, the rustic architecture of towers and crow steps.
Derivatives
crow-stepped
adjectiveˈkrəʊstɛptˈkroʊˌstɛpt
(of a gable) having steplike projections on the sloping part.
the oldest Inverness building with its crow-stepped gables and corbelled tower
Example sentencesExamples
With their high turrets, crow-stepped gables and old-fashioned charm, these two houses look like they could be twins.
Here castles, towers, and fortified manor houses, often with turrets and ‘crow-stepped’ gables, predominated during the Middle Ages; the 16th and 17th cents. saw the beginnings of the Renaissance, with a distinct French influence.
With my eye to the lens, I had the city in my lap and could hoard to myself an unfair share of steeples and spires and cupolas; crow-stepped gables, garrets and all the Old Town's lums came rushing toward me.
Definition of crow steps in US English:
crow steps
plural noun
Projections resembling steps on the sloping part of a gable, common in Flemish architecture and 16th- and 17th-century Scottish buildings.
阶梯式山墙压顶（常见于荷式建筑风格和16、17世纪的苏格兰建筑物）
Also called corbiesteps
Example sentencesExamples
There are crow steps on the gables and a witch's turret on top of a round stair tower harking back to the 17th century.
In the 16th century, the gables were crow-stepped and not with sloping sides, and later these crow steps were separated by curves.
This project typically works with the Scottish traditional architecture, often referred to as the Scots Baronial, the rustic architecture of towers and crow steps.
The Castle never had battlements or turrets, which would have been considered merely ornamental at this period; all four gables are finished with crow steps.
The extension was not fortified and had no crow steps on its single gable.