† orguen.
Obsolete.
1. In plural. Fortification. Suspended wooden beams used as an alternative to a portcullis for stopping a gateway: see quot. 1706.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > gate > [noun] > portcullis
portcullisc1330
forehearse1589
rastel1598
cataract1656
herse1704
orgues1706
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Orgues..in Fortification, long and thick pieces of Wood, armed with Iron-Plates at the end, and hung up separately by a Cord, over a Gate; being ready upon any surprize, to be let fall in the Way, to stop it up instead of a Portcullice.
1762 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy VI. xxii. 94 These last [sc. portcullises] were converted afterwards in orgues, as the better thing.
1853 J. H. Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 204/1 Orgues..are now disused.
2. In plural. Firearms. A device linking several portable guns together for simultaneous firing: see quot. 1706. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > device for discharging several muskets
orgues1706
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Orgues is also taken for a Device, consisting of many Harquebusses linked together, or of several Musket-Barrels set in a row within one wooden Stock, to be discharged either all at once, or separately.
3. = organ n.1 2a. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > rock formations > [noun] > basalt columns
orguea1722
organ pipe1861
a1722 J. Lauder Jrnls. (1900) 171 Saw the Chappel, the richest of Oxford: brave orgues, excellent pictures, [etc.].
1836 G. Darley Nepenthe in Q. Rev. July (1902) 191 Where his vast orgue, high-fluted, stands Basaltic, swept with billowy hands.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2004; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
<
n.1706