Eavesdrips

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A projection from a roof's edge where rainwater drips off
2. the accumulation of moisture that forms as water runs off the eaves of a building
3. the specific droplets that fall from the edges of a roof during rain events

Etymology: "Eavesdrips" is the plural of "eavesdrip," and the singular is the more useful place to start. It is a plain compound: "eaves," the overhanging lower edge of a roof, joined to "drip," the falling of liquid drops. An eavesdrip is therefore the spot where water runs off that edge, and the plural simply names several such spots along a roofline. The word's most striking feature is the element it shares with "eavesdropper." "Eaves" originally meant the edge of a roof, and to eavesdrop was to stand beneath those eaves, where rain fell, to catch what was said inside a house. The roof edge gave the older verb its literal meaning, so the same eaves appear in both the water-dripping word and the spying one.