column

[ kol-uhm ]

/ ˈkɒl əm /

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See synonyms for: column / columns on Thesaurus.com

noun

Architecture.

a rigid, relatively slender, upright support, composed of relatively few pieces.
a decorative pillar, most often composed of stone and typically having a cylindrical or polygonal shaft with a capital and usually a base.

any columnlike object, mass, or formation: a column of smoke.

a vertical row or list: Add this column of figures.

a vertical arrangement on a page of horizontal lines of type, usually typographically justified: There are three columns on this page.

a regular feature or series of articles in a newspaper, magazine, or the like, usually having a readily identifiable heading and the byline of the writer or editor, that reports or comments upon a particular field of interest, as politics, theater, or etiquette, or which may contain letters from readers, answers to readers' queries, etc.

a long, narrow formation of troops in which there are more members in line in the direction of movement than at right angles to the direction (distinguished from line¹ def. 35).

a formation of ships in single file.

Botany. a columnlike structure in an orchid flower, composed of the united stamens and style.

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Origin of column

1400–50; late Middle English columne<Latin columna, equivalent to colum(e)n peak + -a feminine ending; akin to excel; replacing late Middle English colompne<Anglo-French <Latin, as above

synonym study for column

1. Column, pillar refer to upright supports in architectural structures. Pillar is the general word: the pillars supporting the roof. A column is a particular kind of pillar, especially one with an identifiable shaft, base, and capital: columns of the Corinthian order.

OTHER WORDS FROM column

columned

[kol-uhmd], /ˈkɒl əmd/, col·um·nat·ed

[kol-uhm-ney-tid], /ˈkɒl əmˌneɪ tɪd/, adjective

Words nearby column

Columbus Air Force Base, Columbus, Christopher, Columbus Day, columella, columelliform, column, columnar, columnar epithelium, columnarized, columnar jointing, column dress

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use column in a sentence

In the figure below, the column on the left is a list of all pages.
How to teach an old blog new SEO tricks|Tom Pick|August 27, 2020|Search Engine Watch
In a recent newspaper column, Josefowitz wrote about the pandemic affording free time to tackle procrastinated tasks.
No Visitors Leading to Despair and Isolation in Senior Care Homes|Jared Whitlock|July 28, 2020|Voice of San Diego
When placed on the column, each ring slid down to its correct position, if possible.
Can The Hare Beat The Tortoise?|Zach Wissner-Gross|July 17, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
A pressure sensor on a tag attached to a shark’s fin recorded the animal’s swimming depth at one-second intervals as the shark moved up and down in the water column.
Random Search Wired Into Animals May Help Them Hunt|Liam Drew|June 11, 2020|Quanta Magazine

At the end of my five-day experiment, I created a spreadsheet of my results, with each group getting its own column.
Rock Candy Science 2: No such thing as too much sugar|Bethany Brookshire|April 30, 2020|Science News For Students
Sometimes a column has the economy and rhythm of a short story.
The Best Columns of 2014|John Avlon, Errol Louis|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Later that night, that same black-and-red banner would be seen again—in the column of marchers chanting for dead cops.
The Monsters Who Screamed for Dead Cops|Jacob Siegel|December 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He branded it a fifth-column invasion into popular culture, normalizing radical, even communist ambitions.
Glenn Beck Is Now Selling Hipster Clothes. Really.|Ana Marie Cox|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
My editor called and said, “Do a column on this Lena Dunham flap!”
Up to a Point: They Made Me Write About Lena Dunham|P. J. O’Rourke|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His sign was the last one people saw as the column of marchers passed them, it read, “Am I next?”
‘They Let Him Off?’ Scenes from NYC in Disbelief|Jacob Siegel|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
My two eyes haven't quite the same focal length and this often puts me out of the straight with a column of figures.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
The very first chords which Mademoiselle Reisz struck upon the piano sent a keen tremor down Mrs. Pontellier's spinal column.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
He leaned against that same stone column, thinking, searching in his mind, feeling acutely.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
Track of the count may be kept by placing a mark for each leukocyte in its appropriate column, ruled upon paper.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
The last thing—against the skyline—a little column of French soldiers of the line charging back upwards towards the lost redoubt.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton

British Dictionary definitions for column

column

/ (ˈkɒləm) /

noun

an upright post or pillar usually having a cylindrical shaft, a base, and a capital

a form or structure in the shape of a columna column of air
a monument

a row, line, or file, as of people in a queue

military a narrow formation in which individuals or units follow one behind the other

journalism

any of two or more vertical sections of type on a printed page, esp on a newspaper page
a regular article or feature in a paperthe fashion column

a vertical array of numbers or mathematical terms

botany a long structure in a flower, such as that of an orchid, consisting of the united stamens and style

anatomy zoology any elongated structure, such as a tract of grey matter in the spinal cord or the stalk of a crinoid

Derived forms of column

columnar (kəˈlʌmnə), adjectivecolumned or columnated (ˈkɒləmˌneɪtɪd), adjective

Word Origin for column

C15: from Latin columna, from columen top, peak; related to Latin collis hill

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

column

Origin of column

synonym study for column

OTHER WORDS FROM column

Words nearby column

Words related to column

How to use column in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for column

Derived forms of column

Word Origin for column