pedestal

American  

[ped-uh-stl] / ˈpɛd ə stl /

noun

pedestals plural

1. an architectural support for a column, statue, vase, or the like.

2. a supporting structure or piece; base.

3. Furniture.

   1. a support for a desk, consisting of a boxlike frame containing drawers one above the other.

   2. a columnar support for a tabletop.

4. Building Trades. a bulge cast at the bottom of a concrete pile.

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verb (used with object)

pedestaled, pedestaling, pedestalled, pedestalling

1. to put on or supply with a pedestal.

idioms

1. set / put on a pedestal, to glorify; idealize.

   When we first became engaged each of us set the other on a pedestal.

pedestal British  

/ ˈpɛdɪstəl /

noun

1. a base that supports a column, statue, etc, as used in classical architecture

2. a position of eminence or supposed superiority (esp in the phrases place, put, or set on a pedestal )

3. 1. either of a pair of sets of drawers used as supports for a writing surface

   2. ( as modifier )

      a pedestal desk

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pedestal More Idioms  

1. see on a pedestal.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pedestals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pedestal

1555–65; alteration of Middle French piedestal < Italian piedestallo, variant of piedistallo literally, foot of stall. See ped- ², de, stall ¹

Explanation

A pedestal is a base or foundation that supports something like a statue or work of art. Think of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. where a statue of Lincoln sitting in a chair is raised up on a huge pedestal. Think of the physical stand or support when you use pedestal figuratively to mean a place of superiority. If you put someone on a pedestal, you honor that person or place him or her above you, as you might a piece of valued art. If you want to knock someone off his or her pedestal, you think that person is too arrogant and you want to do something to humble him or her.

Example Sentences

Pedestal sinks are out and cabinets and vanities are in.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 8, 2024

Pedestal removal work at the site is still underway.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 30, 2021

In a statement, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett thanked Pedestal for recognizing the importance of Lake Hefner to the community.

From Washington Times • Dec. 26, 2014

A version of this article appears in print on March 16, 2014, on page SP5 of the with the headline: Evidence Mounts That Men’s Top Four Are No Longer on Pedestal .

From New York Times • Mar. 15, 2014

He ordered it to be erected on a very high Pedestal; and Signior Fontana, the famous Architect, was the Man by whose Direction so immense a Weight was raised to that Height.

From The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume II Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels From Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts. by P?llnitz, Karl Ludwig von

Related Words

• podium