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pedestal

[ ped-uh-stl ]
/ ˈpɛd ə stl /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pedestal ON THESAURUS.COM

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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RELATED WORDS

podium, foundation, bottom, support, bed, platform, stand, base, foot, substructure, mounting, plinth

Nearby words

  1. pederast,
  2. pederasty,
  3. pedernales,
  4. pedes,
  5. pedesis,
  6. pedestal table,
  7. pedestrian,
  8. pedestrian crossing,
  9. pedestrianism,
  10. pedestrianize

Idioms

    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
Related formsun·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. 2019

Examples from the Web for pedestal

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
Word Origin and History for pedestal

pedestal

n.

1560s, "base supporting a column, statue, etc.," from Middle French piédestal (1540s), from Italian piedistallo "base of a pillar," from pie "foot" + di "of" + stallo "stall, place, seat," from a Germanic source (see stall (n.1)).

Spelling in English influenced by Latin pedem "foot." An Old English word for it was fotstan, literally "foot-stone." Figurative sense of put (someone) on a pedestal "regard as highly admirable" is attested from 1859.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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.