Gargoyle

n. water spout in the shape of a monster or grotesque creature (often on Gothic churches); grotesque figure resembling a gargoyle; (Slang) person who ha an ugly face

"Gargoyles" redirects here. This article is about gargoyle statues. For other uses, see Gargoyle (disambiguation).In architecture, gargoyles are grotesques with spouts which convey water away from the sides of buildings. The term originates from the French gargouille, originally the throat or gullet, cf. Latin gurgulio, gula, and similar words derived from root gar, to swallow, the word representing the gurgling sound of water; Ital. doccione; Ger. Ausguss, Wasserspeier.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Noun
1. a spout that terminates in a grotesquely carved figure of a person or animal
(hypernym) spout
2. an ornament consisting of a grotesquely carved figure of a person or animal
(hypernym) decoration, ornament, ornamentation

(n.)
A spout projecting from the roof gutter of a building, often carved grotesquely.
  

[Folklore] Gargoyles are the grotesque carvings of faces and bodies of humans and animals. Serving originally as water spouts to direct the water clear of a wall, they can often be found on (Gothic) buildings and churches. In medieval times, the function of Gargoyles changed. They became representations of religious events, created for the illiterate population to "read". From the fact that Gargoyles are such hideous creatures stems the notion that they were created to avert evil. Placed on the outside of buildings supposedly kept evil out. In later times, most of them became mainly ornamental and served no other purpose than decoration.