Pedestal
Pedestal , noun
[Sp. pedestal; compare French piédestal, Italian piedestallo; from Latin es, pedis, foot + Old High German stal standing place, station, place, akin to English stall. See Foot, and Stall, and Footstall.]
1.
(Architecture) The base or foot of a column, statue, vase, lamp, or the like; the part on which an upright work stands. It consists of three parts, the base, the die or dado, and the cornice or surbase molding. See Illust. of Column.
Build him a pedestal, and say, “Stand there!”
2.
A short free-standing column or column-like object designed to support a work of art or other object; a column serving the same function as the base of a statue. It may be made of wood, marble, or other suitable material.
3.
(Furniture) A part of a desk which contains a frame and drawers, stands on the floor, and provides support for the desk surface. There may be zero, one, or two such pedestals in a desk.
4.
(a) (Railroad Cars) A casting secured to the frame of a truck and forming a jaw for holding a journal box.
(b)
(Railroad Cars) A pillow block; a low housing.
(c)
(Railroad Cars) An iron socket, or support, for the foot of a brace at the end of a truss where it rests on a pier.
Collocations (1)
Pedestal coil (steam Heating) , a group of connected straight pipes arranged side by side and one above another, -- used in a radiator.