Definition of "spandrel" []

• The roughly triangular space between the left or right exterior curve of an arch and the rectangular framework surrounding it. (noun)
• The space between two arches and a horizontal molding or cornice above them. (noun)

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.

• "Years ago, Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin borrowed the term spandrel from architecture to illustrate an important consequence of the way evolution works."
• "This is an example of a byproduct or what Stephen Jay Gould famously called a spandrel -- a trait that has no benefit and can be very costly, but remains in the population by being connected to other traits that do have a benefit."
• "Well, a spandrel is the small brass ornament at the corner that fills in the triangular gap left between the circular face and the square outline of the case."