bier

American  

[beer] / bɪər /

noun

1. a frame or stand on which a corpse or the coffin containing it is laid before burial.

2. such a stand together with the corpse or coffin.

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bier British  

/ bɪə /

noun

1. a platform or stand on which a corpse or a coffin containing a corpse rests before burial

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Etymology

Origin of bier

before 900; Middle English bere, Old English bēr, bǣr ( e ); cognate with Old High German bāra ( German Bahre ), Dutch, Danish baar, Swedish bår; spelling influenced by French bière; akin to bear ¹, barrow ¹

Example Sentences

"In India, it's said that the bride enters the husband's home carried on a palanquin and that she leaves only after her death, carried out on a funeral bier," Rao told the BBC.

From BBC

While you meditate you brood on the impermanence of all things, including yourself, and envision yourself as a corpse, lying out on a bier, all life gone.

From The Wall Street Journal

The solemn processions, with the flower-adorned biers followed by the clergy and the faithful, are often spectacular, especially in places where bier processions from each parish converge into a central square.

From Seattle Times

She was cremated, and her ashes were taken on a “flower-decked bier” to Red Square during a funeral tribute, according to Associated Press accounts at the time.

From Washington Times

“I owe him a lot and this for me was really a gift to be able to pray for an hour on his bier.”

From Seattle Times