bier

[ beer ]
See synonyms for bier on Thesaurus.com
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.

Origin of bier

1
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 bear1, barrow1

Words that may be confused with bier

Words Nearby bier

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bier in a sentence

  • From top to bottom of the granite ran long red lines, which might have been compared to oozings from a funeral bier.

    Toilers of the Sea | Victor Hugo

British Dictionary definitions for bier

bier

/ (bɪə) /


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

Origin of bier

1
Old English bǣr; related to beran to bear 1, Old High German bāra bier, Sanskrit bhārá a burden

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