Machicolation
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A machicolation is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones could be dropped on attackers at the base of a defensive wall. A machicolated battlement projects outwards from the supporting wall in order to facilitate this. A hoarding is a similar structure made of wood, usually temporarily constructed in the event of a seige.
The word derives from the Old French word machicoller, derived from Old Provençal machacol, and ultimately from Latin macar (to crush) + collum (the neck).
A variant of machicolations set in the ceiling of a passage were also colloquially known as murder-holes.
Machicolation was later used for decorative effect with spaces between the corbels but without the openings, and subsequently became a characteristic of the Scottish baronial style.
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