banisters

British

/ ˈbænɪstəz /

plural noun

the railing and supporting balusters on a staircase; balustrade

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of banisters

C17: altered from _baluster

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

banisters

Along the banisters were motion-activated lights - one wrong step and they would flare on, announcing their presence.

From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026

Examples include the front door, mantle, archways, stair banisters, central tables or kitchen islands and windows.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2023

I love the circular marble stairs with carved wooden banisters and wrought-iron posts that climb past the Vazrajdane theater, which shares the old building.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 18, 2022

We were told to keep them away from our faces — keep them from people and banisters and elevator buttons and other destinations toward which they were naturally inclined.

From New York Times ● Mar. 12, 2021

And after that he went downstairs, kicking the banisters with his feet—a thing he knew he should not do as it waked up everybody else in the house.

From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023