grottowork

English

Alternative forms

• grotto-work

Etymology

From grotto +‎ work.

Noun

grottowork (usually uncountable, plural grottoworks)

1. artificial ornamental rockwork in imitation of a grotto
   • 1782, William Cowper, “The Poet, the Oyster, and Sensitive Plant”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC:

     You, in your grotto-work enclos'd,
     Complain of being thus expos'd;
     Yet nothing feel in that rough coat,
     Save when the knife is at your throat

References

“grotto-work”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.