[ad. F. corbeille basket:—L. corbicula, dim. of corb-is basket.]
† 1. Fortif. A basket filled with earth and placed on a parapet to protect and conceal the defending soldiers. Obs.
1706. Phillips (ed. Kersey), s.v., In Fortification, Corbeils are little Baskets about a Foot and a half high, eight Inches broad at the bottom, and twelve at the top, which being fill’d with Earth are often set one against another on Breastworks or elsewhere, leaving certain Port-holes, from whence to fire upon the Enemy under Covert.
1818. in Todd; and in mod. Dicts.
2. Arch. (See quots.) (Sometimes erron. corbel.)
1734. Builder’s Dict., Corbeils is a piece of Carved Work in the form of a basket, full of flowers or fruits, serving in Architecture to finish some Ornament. Corbels … the Representation of a Basket sometimes seen on the heads of the Caryatides.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 583. Corbeils … sometimes used to express the bell or vase of the Corinthian capital.
1876. Gwilt, Encycl. Archit., Gloss.
ǁ 3. In the French form, sometimes used for an elegant fruit or flower basket.
1800. Mrs. Hervey, Mourtray Fam., II. 17. In the truly graceful form of its dishes, corbeilles, compotiers.
1849. C. Brontë, Shirley, xxxii. 463. The full corbeille of blushing bloom.
1881. The Queen, 31 Dec., 663/1. Many-tinted flowers they reserve for their bouquets or corbeilles.
