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pedestal

[ ped-uh-stl ]
/ ˈpɛd ə stl /
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noun
an architectural support for a column, statue, vase, or the like.
a supporting structure or piece; base.
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.
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.
to put on or supply with a pedestal.
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Idioms about pedestal

    set / put on a pedestal, to glorify; idealize: When we first became engaged each of us set the other on a pedestal.

Origin of pedestal

1555–65; alteration of Middle French piedestal<Italian piedestallo, variant of piedistallo literally, foot of stall. See ped-2, de, stall1

OTHER WORDS FROM pedestal

un·ped·es·tal, verb (used with object), un·ped·es·taled, un·ped·es·tal·ing or (especially British) un·ped·es·talled, un·ped·es·tal·ling.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pedestal in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for pedestal

pedestal
/ (ˈpɛdɪstəl) /

noun
a base that supports a column, statue, etc, as used in classical architecture
a position of eminence or supposed superiority (esp in the phrases place, put, or set on a pedestal)
  1. either of a pair of sets of drawers used as supports for a writing surface
  2. (as modifier)a pedestal desk

Word Origin for pedestal

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with pedestal

pedestal

see on a pedestal.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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