pedestal

[ ped-uh-stl ]

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

, ped·es·taled, ped·es·tal·ing or (especially British) ped·es·talled, ped·es·tal·ling.

1. to put on or supply with a pedestal.

pedestal

/ 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

Other Words From

• un·pedes·tal verb (used with object) unpedestaled unpedestaling or (especially British) unpedestalled unpedestalling

Word History and Origins

Origin of pedestal¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pedestal¹

C16: from French piédestal, from Old Italian piedestallo, from pie foot + di of + stallo a stall

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

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

More idioms and phrases containing pedestal

see on a pedestal .

Example Sentences

A great deal of the joy of watching the film is thanks to Mads Mikkelsen, whose face reminds me of a statue you might find carved into rock and resting on a museum pedestal.

From Vox

Heeding Ditka, who would whisper, “they put you on that pedestal and then they knock you down,” is a tricky task.

From Washington Post

They build you up too much and put you on that pedestal, and then they knock you down.

From Washington Post

For 15 years, the 35-year-old worked to “put people in their best light, to put them on a pedestal.”

From Washington Post

Those notions placed women on a pedestal – but also denied them opportunities.

From No Straight News

But whereas we used to be satisfied gazing on that perfection as it stood up on a pedestal, now we want it down among us.

From The Daily Beast

Almost a decade later Olmstead has stepped down from her pedestal to focus more of her time on sports and friends.

From The Daily Beast

Her very first sculpture, a metallic chrome unicorn aptly titled “Space Oracle,” sits on a pedestal directly in front.

From The Daily Beast

The151-foot newborn waited in the harbor on her 171-foot pedestal, a huge French flag fluttering over her dark copper face.

From The Daily Beast

A delicious marble Cupid appeared to have just alighted on his pedestal at the upper end of the room.

From The Daily Beast

She resented his sudden drop from his pedestal, for he looked sentimental and somewhat sheepish.

From Project Gutenberg

Next moment Tom Brown sent a bullet straight into his heart, and his tail made a splendid flourish as he fell off his pedestal!

From Project Gutenberg

He was sumptuously buried in Kensal Green, where a marble pedestal carries his portrait and his epitaph.

From Project Gutenberg

Here and there we will find a boulder perched on a pedestal of ice, which indicates a recent down-wearing of the field.

From Project Gutenberg

The pedestal of this clock represented in bas-relief the birth of astronomy on the Egyptian plains.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• podium