Category:Pillar

Pil"lar, n. Etym: [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. Jacob set a pillar upon her grave. Gen. xxxv. 20. The place. . . vast and proud, supported by a hundred pillars stood. Dryden.

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. By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire. Milton.

3. (r. C. Ch.)

Defn: a portable ornamental column, formerly carried before a Cardinal, as emblematic of his support to the church. [obs.] Skelton.

4. (man.)

Defn: the center of the volta, ring, or manege ground, around which a Horse turns. 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.

Pillar Pil"lar, a. (mach.)

Defn: having a support in the form of a pillar, instead of legs; as, A pillar drill.

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---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Pillar - Used to support a building (Judges 16:26, Judges 16:29); as a trophy or memorial (Genesis 28:18; Genesis 35:20; Exodus 24:4; 1 Samuel 15:12, A.V., "place," more correctly "monument," or "trophy of victory," as in 2 Samuel 18:18); of fire, by which the Divine Presence was manifested (Exodus 13:2). The "plain of the pillar" in Judges 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 (Joshua 24:26).