Definition of "cornice" [cor•nice]

• A horizontal molded projection that crowns or completes a building or wall. (noun)
• The uppermost part of an entablature. (noun)
• The molding at the top of the walls of a room, between the walls and ceiling. (noun)
• An ornamental horizontal molding or frame used to conceal rods, picture hooks, or other devices. (noun)
• To supply, decorate, or finish with or as if with a cornice. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Running under the cornice was a faint carved inscription."
• "That clumsy structure called the cornice, for putting up curtains on, has happily given place to the more light and graceful curtain pole."
• "Above the cornice is a blocking course, surmounted by an attic, with an appropriate cornice and sub-blocking, to add to the height of the building."