Find the word definition

The Collaborative International Dictionary
Eaves trough

Eaves \Eaves\, n. pl. [OE. evese, pl. eveses, AS. efese eaves, brim, brink; akin to OHG. obisa, opasa, porch, hall, MHG. obse eaves, Icel. ups, Goth. ubizwa porch; cf. Icel. upsar-dropi, OSw. ops["a]-drup water dropping from the eaves. Probably from the root of E. over. The s of eaves is in English regarded as a plural ending, though not so in Saxon. See Over, and cf. Eavesdrop.]

  1. (Arch.) The edges or lower borders of the roof of a building, which overhang the walls, and cast off the water that falls on the roof.

  2. Brow; ridge. [Obs.] ``Eaves of the hill.''
    --Wyclif.

  3. Eyelids or eyelashes. And closing eaves of wearied eyes. --Tennyson. Eaves board (Arch.), an arris fillet, or a thick board with a feather edge, nailed across the rafters at the eaves of a building, to raise the lower course of slates a little, or to receive the lowest course of tiles; -- called also eaves catch and eaves lath. Eaves channel, Eaves gutter, Eaves trough. Same as Gutter, 1. Eaves molding (Arch.), a molding immediately below the eaves, acting as a cornice or part of a cornice. Eaves swallow (Zo["o]l.).

    1. The cliff swallow; -- so called from its habit of building retort-shaped nests of mud under the eaves of buildings. See Cliff swallow, under Cliff.

    2. The European swallow.

Wiktionary
eaves trough

n. (context chiefly US English) (alternative form of eavestrough English)

Usage examples of "eaves trough".

Also there were at least fifty heads, identifiable as Colonists by the spired helms, lined up in the eaves trough of the house or dangling from the branches of a dead orange tree beside the door.

The brilliant blue and black Steller's jays were raucous and clearly up to no good on the eaves trough, and because of the frost, the leaves on the Japanese maples had been converted into stained-glass shards.

And the son of Tarzan skipped across the room, slipped through the open window, and slid to liberty by way of the down spout from an eaves trough.