column

noun

col·umn | \ ˈkä-ləm also ˈkäl-yəm

Definition of column

1a : a vertical arrangement of items printed or written on a page columns of numbers

b : one of two or more vertical sections of a printed page separated by a rule or blank space The news article takes up three columns.

c : an accumulation arranged vertically : stack columns of paint cans

d : one in a usually regular series of newspaper or magazine articles the gossip column advice columns

2 : a supporting pillar especially : one consisting of a usually round shaft, a capital, and a base a colonnade of marble columns

3a : something resembling a column in form, position, or function a column of water columns of smoke

b : a tube or cylinder in which a chromatographic separation takes place

4 : a long row (as of soldiers) columns of troops

5 : one of the vertical lines of elements of a determinant or matrix

6 : a statistical category or grouping put another game in the win column

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Examples of column in a Sentence

a facade with marble columns Add the first column of numbers. The article takes up three columns. The error appears at the bottom of the second column. She writes a weekly column for the paper.

Recent Examples on the Web

Three years ago, Sanders began writing a regular column about a sick person’s undiagnosed case, soliciting theories from her readers. — Emma Grey Ellis, WIRED, "Reality TV Meets Crowdsourced Medicine in Netflix's Diagnosis," 16 Aug. 2019 The Interface is a daily column about the intersection of social media and democracy. — Casey Newton, The Verge, "Amazon’s Twitter ambassadors are blurring the line between fact and fiction," 16 Aug. 2019 By conforming the tube to the fish, there’s no need to move a column of water, ensuring no practical height limit to the tubes’ ability to rise over dams. — Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, "How That Mesmerizing Fish Tube Works," 12 Aug. 2019 In this week’s Nature column, Peter Marteka updates readers on the near completion of the Hop River Trail bridge over the Willimantic River and a new plan for a trestle bridge removal and installation of a bridge over the Hop River in Coventry. — Peter Marteka, courant.com, "Bridging gaps along the Hop River State Park Trail in Coventry," 9 Aug. 2019 Edith lands a magazine column about the problems facing modern women. — Tom Fitzgerald And Lorenzo Marquez, Town & Country, "The 10 Best Downton Abbey Episodes," 8 Aug. 2019 Put another one in the win column for positive thinking! — Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, "Study Finds that Optimists May Sleep Better and Longer," 8 Aug. 2019 Frank Figliuzzi, a former head of counterintelligence at the FBI, wrote in a column published just four days earlier in The New York Times that Trump's words eventually could incite bloodshed. — Philip Rucker, Anchorage Daily News, "Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric looms over El Paso massacre," 4 Aug. 2019 The up- and down-arrow keys are a little small, but HP managed to include a column of page navigation keys on the right side of the keyboard. — Valentina Palladino, Ars Technica, "HP Envy 13 mini-review: Spectre fans, meet your budget option," 26 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'column.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

22 Aug 2019

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Time Traveler for column

The first known use of column was in the 15th century

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More Definitions for column

column

noun

English Language Learners Definition of column

: a long post made of steel, stone, etc., that is used as a support in a building

: a group of printed or written items (such as numbers or words) shown one under the other down a page

: any one of two or more sections of print that appear next to each other on a page and are separated by a blank space or a line

See the full definition for column in the English Language Learners Dictionary

column

noun

col·umn | \ ˈkä-ləm

Kids Definition of column

1 : one of two or more vertical sections of a printed page Read the article in the left column.

2 : a group of items shown one under the other down a page a column of figures

3 : a regular feature in a newspaper or magazine a sports column

4 : a pillar used to support a building

5 : something that is tall or thin in shape or arrangement a column of smoke

6 : a long straight row a column of soldiers

column

noun

col·umn | \ ˈkäl-əm

Medical Definition of column

: a longitudinal subdivision of the spinal cord that resembles a column or pillar: as

a : any of the principal longitudinal subdivisions of gray matter or white matter in each lateral half of the spinal cord — see dorsal horn, gray column, lateral column sense 1, ventral horn — compare funiculus sense a

b : any of a number of smaller bundles of spinal nerve fibers : fasciculus