Pillar

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Pillar \Pil"lar\, a. (Mach.)
     Having a support in the form of a pillar, instead of legs;
     as, a pillar drill.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Pillar \Pil"lar\, n. [OE. pilerF. pilier, LL. pilare, pilarium,
     pilarius, fr. L. pila a pillar. See {Pile} a heap.]
     1. The general and popular term for a firm, upright,
        insulated support for a superstructure; a pier, column, or
        post; also, a column or shaft not supporting a
        superstructure, as one erected for a monument or an
        ornament.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Jacob set a pillar upon her grave.    --Gen. xxxv.
                                                    20.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The place . . . vast and proud,
              Supported by a hundred pillars stood. --Dryden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Figuratively, that which resembles such a pillar in
        appearance, character, or office; a supporter or mainstay;
        as, the Pillars of Hercules; a pillar of the state. "You
        are a well-deserving pillar." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire. --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (R. C. Ch.) A portable ornamental column, formerly carried
        before a cardinal, as emblematic of his support to the
        church. [Obs.] --Skelton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Man.) The center of the volta, ring, or manege ground,
        around which a horse turns.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {From pillar to post}, hither and thither; to and fro; from
        one place or predicament to another; backward and forward.
        [Colloq.]
  
     {Pillar saint}. See {Stylite}.
  
     {Pillars of the fauces}. See {Fauces}, 1.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  pillar
       n 1: a fundamental principle or practice; "science eroded the
            pillars of superstition"
       2: anything tall and thin approximating the shape of a column
          or tower; "the test tube held a column of white powder";
          "a tower of dust rose above the horizon"; "a thin pillar
          of smoke betrayed their campsite" [syn: {column}, {tower}]
       3: a prominent supporter; "he is a pillar of the community"
          [syn: {mainstay}]
       4: a vertical structure standing alone and not supporting
          anything (as a monument or a column of air) [syn: {column}]
       5: (architeture) a tall cylindrical vertical upright and used
          to support a structure [syn: {column}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  152 Moby Thesaurus words for "pillar":
     antenna tower, arcade, arch, atlas, backbone, baluster, balustrade,
     banister, barbican, barrel, barrow, base, bedrock, belfry,
     bell tower, bole, boundary stone, brass, bust, cairn, campanile,
     caryatid, cask, cenotaph, champion, colonnade, colonnette,
     colossus, column, cromlech, cross, cup, cupola, cyclolith,
     cylinder, cylindroid, dado, defender, derrick, die, dolmen, dome,
     drum, fire tower, footstalk, footstone, foundation, grave,
     gravestone, headstone, hoarstone, inscription, jack, lantern,
     leader, lighthouse, mainstay, marker, martello, martello tower,
     mast, mausoleum, megalith, memento, memorial, memorial arch,
     memorial column, memorial statue, memorial stone, menhir, minaret,
     monolith, monument, mound, necrology, newel-post, obelisk,
     obituary, observation tower, pagoda, patron, patroness, pedestal,
     pedicel, peduncle, peristyle, pier, pilaster, pile, piling,
     pinnacle, pipe, plaque, plinth, pole, portico, post, prize, prop,
     protector, protectress, pylon, pyramid, queen-post, reliquary,
     remembrance, ribbon, rock, roll, roller, rostral column, rouleau,
     safekeeper, shaft, shrine, sinews, skyscraper, socle, spire, staff,
     stalk, stanchion, stand, standard, standpipe, steeple, stela, stem,
     stone, stupa, subbase, supporter, surbase, tablet, telamon,
     television mast, testimonial, tomb, tombstone, tope, tour, tower,
     tower of strength, trophy, trunk, tube, turret, upholder, upright,
     water tower, windmill tower, worthy
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Pillar
     used to support a building (Judg. 16:26, 29); as a trophy or
     memorial (Gen. 28:18; 35:20; Ex. 24:4; 1 Sam. 15:12, A.V.,
     "place," more correctly "monument," or "trophy of victory," as
     in 2 Sam. 18:18); of fire, by which the Divine Presence was
     manifested (Ex. 13:2). The "plain of the pillar" in Judg. 9:6
     ought to be, as in the Revised Version, the "oak of the pillar",
     i.e., of the monument or stone set up by Joshua (24:26).