[Fr.; formerly cramaillère a crook with a rack or notches for hanging pots over a fire, a toothed rack, any indented piece, deriv. of cramail:—late L. cramāculum (Capit. Charlemagne De Villis 42) in the first of these senses. Perh. f. Du. kram hook, or some cognate word. The two following technical applications of the Fr. word appear in Eng.]
1. Field-fortif. An indented or zigzag form of the inside line of a parapet, giving opportunity for bringing a greater fire to bear upon the defile. (Stocqueler.)
1828. J. M. Spearman, Brit. Gunner, 264. These hurdles … are very useful in forming the teeth of the cremaillères in the saliant angles of fieldworks.
1859. F. A. Griffiths, Artil. Man. (ed. 2), 273. Lengthen the lines by cremaillères.
2. Watch-making. (See quot.)
1884. F. J. Britten, Watch & Clockm., 69. Cremaillere … [is] the winding rack of a repeating watch.
