1
a
: a firm upright support for a superstructure : post entry 1
b
: a usually ornamental column or shaft
especially
: one standing alone for a monument
2
a
: a supporting, integral, or upstanding member or part
a pillar of society
b
: a fundamental precept
the five pillars of Islam
3
: a solid mass of coal, rock, or ore left standing to support a mine roof
4
: a body part that resembles a column
pillarless
adjective
Examples of pillar in a Sentence
Noun
the ancient Greek temple boasted graceful marble pillars with richly ornamented tops
my father has been my pillar throughout this crisis
Recent Examples on the Web
Sheera Frenkel, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
But the recovery at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa, once the pillar of the Gazan medical system, is especially grim.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 11 Apr. 2024
Don't look to me as the pillar of health and wellness and having it all together.
—Wendy Naugle, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024
Carle’s since put his own spin on it, but the core principles, those concrete pillars, remain more or less the same.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 10 Apr. 2024
The White House previously said Biden would be meeting with local officials and viewing the wreckage of the bridge, which collapsed last week after a massive cargo ship hit one of its support pillars.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
These are pillars of comprehensive, affordable pharmacy benefits for which Cost Plus has no answer.
—David Joyner, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024
After a massive container ship struck one of the bridge’s pillars, the entire span quickly fell apart, costing several lives.
—David Ditch, The Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2024
These fundamental pillars—understanding your audience, delivering value, establishing trust—now take on new significance in the digital domain.
—Carol Howley, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Saskia Solomon, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2023
Just one practical example of that purpose in action concerns pillars 3 and 4, and Monin’s 15-year quest to help avoid colony collapse among the US bee population.
—Simon Mainwaring, Forbes, 17 July 2023
The light frayed, ghostly pillars shifting, the voice of God made visible.
—Hazlitt, 7 June 2023
Some of this light comes back toward the metalens, which is pointed, pillars out, toward the scene.
—IEEE Spectrum, 21 May 2023
You’re allowed to have Facebook pages that pillar the leaders and.
—Laura Johnston, cleveland, 23 Jan. 2023
The tall windows, pillared facade, rooftop balustrade, and 90-foot-high rotunda of the main building give it the look of a chateau.
—Adam Hochschild, The Atlantic, 15 Dec. 2019
The recovery initiative is pillared by a breeding program and habitat safeguards.
—Helena Amante, Smithsonian, 8 Oct. 2019
The team started working on the research which initially began in 2014 with the Staghorn coral, but then the focus shifted to pillar coral because of a disease that has been devastating to the Florida Reef Tract.
—Lauren M. Johnson, CNN, 21 Aug. 2019
Noun
Through daily organizing sessions on Zoom and grass-roots campaigning in battleground states, a sprawling new iteration of the pro-Palestinian movement is now propelled both by longtime — and sometimes hard-line — activists and by mainstream pillars of the Democratic coalition.
—Sheera Frenkel, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
But the recovery at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa, once the pillar of the Gazan medical system, is especially grim.
—Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 11 Apr. 2024
Don't look to me as the pillar of health and wellness and having it all together.
—Wendy Naugle, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024
Carle’s since put his own spin on it, but the core principles, those concrete pillars, remain more or less the same.
—Sean Keeler, The Denver Post, 10 Apr. 2024
The White House previously said Biden would be meeting with local officials and viewing the wreckage of the bridge, which collapsed last week after a massive cargo ship hit one of its support pillars.
—Alexandra Banner, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
These are pillars of comprehensive, affordable pharmacy benefits for which Cost Plus has no answer.
—David Joyner, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024
After a massive container ship struck one of the bridge’s pillars, the entire span quickly fell apart, costing several lives.
—David Ditch, The Mercury News, 30 Mar. 2024
These fundamental pillars—understanding your audience, delivering value, establishing trust—now take on new significance in the digital domain.
—Carol Howley, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Verb
Growing up on this hilltop surrounded by vineyards, the siblings began work early and wore wooden shoes, saving handmade slippers for Mass.
Though money was often scarce, the family had as pillars their deeply religious parents: Teresa, who didn’t work outside the home, and Giovanni, a carpenter.
—Saskia Solomon, New York Times, 11 Aug. 2023
Just one practical example of that purpose in action concerns pillars 3 and 4, and Monin’s 15-year quest to help avoid colony collapse among the US bee population.
—Simon Mainwaring, Forbes, 17 July 2023
The light frayed, ghostly pillars shifting, the voice of God made visible.
—Hazlitt, 7 June 2023
Some of this light comes back toward the metalens, which is pointed, pillars out, toward the scene.
—IEEE Spectrum, 21 May 2023
You’re allowed to have Facebook pages that pillar the leaders and.
—Laura Johnston, cleveland, 23 Jan. 2023
The tall windows, pillared facade, rooftop balustrade, and 90-foot-high rotunda of the main building give it the look of a chateau.
—Adam Hochschild, The Atlantic, 15 Dec. 2019
The recovery initiative is pillared by a breeding program and habitat safeguards.
—Helena Amante, Smithsonian, 8 Oct. 2019
The team started working on the research which initially began in 2014 with the Staghorn coral, but then the focus shifted to pillar coral because of a disease that has been devastating to the Florida Reef Tract.
—Lauren M. Johnson, CNN, 21 Aug. 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pillar.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near pillar
Cite this Entry
“Pillar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pillar. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pillar
1 of 2 noun
pil·lar
ˈpil-ər 
1
: a firm upright support (as for a roof)
2
: a column or shaft standing alone (as for a monument)
3
: a supporting or important member or part
a pillar of society
pillar
2 of 2 verb
: to provide or support with or as if with pillars
a long pillared hall
Medical Definition
pillar
noun
pil·lar
ˈpil-ər
: a body part likened to a pillar or column (as the margin of the external inguinal ring)
specifically
: pillar of the fauces
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