pillar 
ing composed, of several shafts engaged in ft 
central core, as is frequent in medieval archi- 
tecture : by architects often distinguished from 
i-ii/iiiini, inasmuch as it may be of any shape in 
section, and is not subordinated to the rules of 
classic architecture. See also cuts under lafi 
and column. 
Eche piler is of Penauuce of preyeres to seyntes, 
Of Almes-dedes ar the hokes that the gates hangen on. 
Piers Plounnan (K), v. 802. 
The /'///,/ is a figure among all the rest of the Oeoraet- 
rlcall most beawtlfull, in respect that he IB tall and vp- 
rlght and of one blgnesse from the bottom to the toppe. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesle, p. 80. 
And Jacob get a pillar upon her grave. Oen. xxxv. 20. 
There are erected two wooden pillan In the water. 
Caryat, Crudities, I. 3. 
2. A support or supporter; one who or that 
which sustains or upholds. 
The pilere elm, the cofere unto carayne. 
Chaucer, Parliament of Fowls, 1. 177. 
lie la a maine pillar of our church, though not yet Deane 
nor Canon, and nis life our Religions best Apologie. 
Bp. Kuril', Micro-cosmographie, A Uraue Diulne. 
With grave 
Aspect he rose, and in his rising seem'd 
A pillar of state. Milton, P. L., 11. 802. 
3. The upright and supporting part of some- 
thing, as of a table having but one support, or 
of a candlestick. 4. In anat. and zool., a pillar- 
like or columnar structure, part, or organ ; a col- 
umn or columella; a crus: as, the pillar (colu- 
mella or modiolus) of a spiral shell ; the pillan 
(crura or peduncles) of the brain. See cut 
under Discopliora. 6. One of the posts which 
serve to connect the plates of a clock-move- 
ment, and also to keep them the necessary 
distance apart. 6. In the rnanige, the raised 
center of the ring or manege-ground around 
which a horse turns. There are also pillars at 
regular intervals around the ground. 7. A 
portable emblem in the form of an ornamented 
column, formerly carried before an ecclesiasti- 
cal dignitary as typical of his function as a sup- 
port to the church. 
With worldly pompe incredible, 
Before him ryaeth two prestes stronge, 
And they bear two crosses right longe, 
Oapynge in every man's face. 
After them folowe two laye-men secular, 
And each of them holdyng a pillar 
In their handes, steatle of a mace. 
SMton, Works. (Naret.) 
8. Something resembling a pillar iu appear- 
ance. 
And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of 
cloud, to lead them the way ; and by night in a pillar of 
flre, to give them light. Ex. xiii. 21. 
9. A solid mass of coal left either temporarily 
or permanently to support the roof of a mine. 
10. In harp-making, the upright post on the 
side furthest from the player. It is usually 
hollow, and contains the rods of the pedal-ac- 
tion. 11. A frame for supporting tobacco- 
pipes in a kiln. E. H. Kniglit. l2. The nip- 
ple of a firearm. E. H. Knight. Compound pil- 
lar, in arch , a clustered column. From pillar to post, 
or from post to pillar, from one thing to another with- 
out any apparent definite purpose : as, to run or be driven 
from pillar ti> post. The allusion, according to Brewer, is 
to the pillar in the center of a manege-ground and the 
sts placed at regular intervals around its circumference. 
e def. 6, above. 
From thce poast toe filer with thoght his rackt wyt he 
tosseth. Stanihurst, I'nn.l, Iv. 296. (Daniel.) 
Our Guards, from pillar bang'd to post, 
He kick'd about till they were lost. 
Cotton, Scarronides, p. 62. (Duties.) 
Knotted pillar. See knotted. pillar and breast, a 
common method of mining coal, in which the breasts 
or working-places are rectangular rooms, usually five 
or ten times as long as they are broad, and opened on 
the upper side of the gangway, or main haulage-road, 
or level driven on the strike of the coal. The breasts 
are made of various widths, usually from five to twelve 
yards, according to the character of the roof, but not so 
wide that the roof will not sustain itself. These breasts 
or rooms are separated by pillars of coal, broken only 
by cross-headings where these are needed for ventila- 
tion. The pillars are sometimes left so narrow that it 
is not expected they will permanently support the roof 
of the mine; in such cases the object of the method is 
to get as much coal as possible in the shortest time and 
at the least expense. If more economy of coal is consid- 
ered desirable, the pillars are left wider, and, after the 
breasts are entirely worked out, are ' ' robbed" that is, are 
cut away until all the coal has been obtained from them 
which can be removed without too great danger to the 
miners. This method of mining is also called post and 
stall, pillar and stall, pillar and room, stoop and room, 
board and pillar, etc. See lony-teall. Pillar dollar, a 
silver coin of Spain (so called from its figure of the Pillars 
of Hercules), coined especially for use in the former Span- 
ish colonies in America. Also called peg" and piece of 
eight. See cut in next column. Pillar letter-box, a 
short pillar placed in a street, containing a receptacle for 
4489 pillion 
genus Byrrhus: so called from its small size and 
rounded form, which when it draws in or folds 
away its legs and feigns death make it look 
like a pill. 
pill-box (pil'boks). n. 
1. A box for holding 
pills. 2. Humorously, 
a kind of carriage. 
She drove Into town In a 
one-horse carriage, irrever- 
ently called, at that period of 
English history, & pill-box. 
Dickens, Little Don-it, xxxiii. 
pill-bug (pil'bug), n. An isopod crustacean 
of the family Oniscidx; a kind of wood-louse, 
slater, or sow-bug which can roll itself into a 
h Museum. (Sue .* the original) ball like a pill. One such species is technically 
called Armadillo piliilaris. 
pill-coater (pil'ko'ter), n. 
Pill beetle (.Byrrhut filttlui). 
( Line shows Datura! size. ) 
po 
Se 
letters, etc., which are collected at specified hours by 
post-office letter-carrier*. I T.IIK. | Pillars of Cortl. 
Same as rod* of Corti (which see, under rod). Pillars 
of Hercules, the two hills on opposite sides of the straits 
of Gibraltar Abyla (Jebel-el-Mlna), on the African side, 
and Calpe (Rock of Gibraltar), on the European side 
which were said to have been torn asunder by Hercules. 
Pillars of the abdominal ring. See columns of the 
abdominal ring under column. Pillars of the dia- 
phragm. See diaphragm. Pillars Of the fauces. See 
fauces. Pillars of the fornix. the more or lew com- 
pact strands of the fomix passing one pair anteriorly 
and one pair posteriorly down toward the base of the 
brain. The anterior pair pass down to the corpora albi- 
cantia, and are called column* of the fornix, or radices 
ajtcendentes (by Meynert descendentes)fornicis. The poste- 
rior pillars or crura pass downward to end in the hippo- 
campus major and to form the flmbrla. Pillars of the 
palate. See palate, 1. Pompey '8 pillar, a noted monu- 
ment of antiquity standing at Alexandria in Egypt It 
is a huge Corinthian column of red granite, rising to a 
height of 98 feet 9 Inches, exclusive of the substruc- 
ture. The shaft is monolithic and unfluted, 73 feet long 
and 29 feet 8 inches In circumference. The capital is 
feet high, and the square base measures about IS feet 
on the side. Despite the popular name, the monument 
had nothing to do with Pompey : it was erected In honor 
of the emperor Diocletian, a statue of whom originally 
stood upon It. Rib and pillar, in mining, a system 
upon which the so-called "thick coal" was formerly ex- 
tensively mined. It is a modification of the pillar-and- 
breast method. [South Staffordshire, Eng. ) 
pillar-block (pil'Sr-blok), n. In mach., a pil- 
low-block or plumber-block. 
pillar-box. Same as^/iMar letter-box (which see, 
under pillar). 
pillar-brick (pil'ar-brik), n. In the construc- 
tion of a brick-kiln by building up unburned 
bricks, one of the bricks which are laid up be- 
tween the " straight courses," and which form 
the sides of the arches through which the heated 
products of combustion flow in the process of 
burning. 
pillar-compasses (pil'ar-kum*pas-e!!), . A 
bow-pen ; a pair of dividers with an attachment 
for a pen or pencil. 
pillared (pil'ard),n. [< pillar + -erf2.] 1. Hav- 
ing pillars ; supported by pillars. 
In the ground 
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow 
About the mother-tree, a pillar'd shade 
High over-arch'd, and echoing walks between. 
Milton, P. L., IX. 1106. 
All that remained [of a vihara] was a series of some 
twenty cells and four larger halls surrounding a pillared 
court 50 ft. square. 
J. Feryusson, Hist. Indian Arch., p. 137. 
2. Having the form of a pillar. 
Th' infuriate hill that shoots tttepOlar'd flame. 
Thomson, Summer. 
pillaret (pil'ar-et), n. [< OF. pileret, dim. of 
piler, a pillar : see pillar and -etJ\ A small pil- 
lar. 
The Pillars and Pillaret* of Fusill Marble. 
Fuller, Worthies (Wiltshire), III. 316. 
pillar-file (pir&r-fil), n. A narrow, thin, flat 
hand-file with one safe edge. E. H. Knight. 
pillaring (pil'ar-ing), n. [< pillar + -ing*.] A 
system or series of pillars ; a method of apply- 
ing or employing pillars. Thearle, Naval Arch., 
$315. 
pillarist (pil'ar-ist), . [<pillar + -.] Same 
as stylite. 
pillar-lip (pil'ar-lip), n. In cone*., the inner 
or columellar lip of a gastropod. 
pillar-plait (pil ar-plat), n. In conch., a colu- 
mellar fold. P. 7'. Carpenter. 
pillar-saint (pil'Sr-sant), n. Same as stylite. 
pillaryt, An obsolete form of pillory. 
pillas (pil'as), . [Also pillis, pillez, pellas, 
etc.. < Corn" /)//r.. ;/<-, bare, bald. Cf. pill-.'] 
The naked oat, Arena nuda, by some considered 
avarietyof A.satira. Also called pillcorn. Jago, 
Glossary. [Cornwall, Eng.] 
pillau, pillaw, . See pilau. 
pill-beetle (pil'be'tl), n. A coleopterous in- 
sect of the family Byrrhidx, especially of the 
r (pil'lco'ter), n. A machine for coat- 
ing pills with sugar. The pills are placed In a pan 
with a compound of sugar, and agitated constantly by a 
steady rotary motion, exposing their entire surface to the 
sugar, and yet not allowing them to stick together. 
pillcorn (pil'korn), n. See pillaa. 
pilledt (pild), p. a. [Early mod. E. also pild; 
ME. 'pilled, piled, pild; pp. of pil ft, .J 1. 
Stripped of hair; bald. 
As piled as an ape was his skulle. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 16. 
He mljte no maistre [ben) kald (for Crist that defended), 
Ne puten [no] pyllon on his pild pate ; 
But precheu In partite lljf & no pride vsen. 
Pien Plowman' t Crede (E. E. T. S.), 1. 83a 
2. Having scanty hair. 
With skulled browes blake and piled herd. 
Chaucer, Oen. Prol. to C. T., L 627. 
3. Threadbare; henoe, forlorn. 
I am no such pilled Cynlck to believe 
That beggary Is the only happiness. 
B. Jonton, Every Man out of his Humour, I. 1. 
pilled-garlict (pild'gar'lik), . Same as pil- 
garlick. 
pillednesst(pild'nes), H. Baldness; bareness; 
scantiness; threadbare condition. 
Some scorned the pildnrtse of his garments. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, III. 187. 
pillerH (pil'er), n. [< ME. pilloiir, pellour, pi- 
lour, pelour, a robber, < OF. "pillour, pilleur, 
Y.pilleur, < LL. *j>ifator(in fern. pilatrix), ML. 
pillator, a robber, < L. pilare, rob : seepilfi.] A 
plunderer ; a robber. 
To ransake in the tan of bodycs dede, 
Hem for to strepe of herneys and of wede, 
The pilours diden businesse and cure 
After the bataille and disconflture. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 149. 
They haue tooke notable goods of ours, 
On this side see, these false pelours 
Called of Salncte Malo, and cllis where. 
Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 190. 
piller' 2 t, n. An obsolete spelling of pillar. 
pillery't (pil'er-i), . [< ; ,,l + .,,.] Rob- 
bery; plunder; pillage; rapine. 
And then concussion, rapine, pilleries, 
Their catalogue of accusations fill. 
Daniel. 
pillery 2 t, An obsolete spelling of pillory. 
pillez (pil'ez), n. Same eM^rillas. 
pilliocausia, pillicoshy (pil'i-6-ka'si-ii, pil'i- 
ko-shi ), n. Hiera-picra, or powder of aloes and 
canella. 
pillion (pil'yon), n. [Early mod. E. also pilion, 
pylion; < M'&.pylion, pyllioun, < Ir. pilliun, pil- 
lin, a pack-saddle, =:G&e\.pillean, pillin, a pack- 
saddle, cloth put under a saddle, = W. pilyn = 
Manx pollan, a pack-saddle ; < Ir. pill, a cover- 
ing, = Gael, peall, a skin, coverlet, = L. pellis. 
a skin: see pell 1 . In the sense of 'head-dress' 
perhaps a diff. word, ult. < L. pileus, pilleus, a 
felt cap : see pilevs.~\ If. A saddle, especially 
a light and simple saddle without a raised bow 
and pommel. 
His strong brasse bit, his slydlng reynes. his shanke pil- 
lion without stirrups. Speiuser, State of Ireland. 
2. A pad or cushion fitted for adjustment to a 
saddle behind as a seat for a second person, 
usually a woman. 
Every now and then drop'd a Lady from her I'illion, 
another from her Side Saddle. 
Quoted in Ashton's Social Life In Reign of Queen Anne, 
[I. 84. 
Why can't you ride your hobby-horse without desiring 
to place me on a pillion behind you? 
Sheridan, The Critic, L 1. 
3f. In mining, tin recovered from the slags in 
the smelting of that metal. This is done by re- 
peated stamping, sifting, and washing. [Corn- 
wall, Eng.] 4f. A head-dress, as of a priest; 
a hat. 
