riser

American  

[rahy-zer] / ˈraɪ zər /

noun

1. a person who rises, especially from bed.

   to be an early riser.

2. the vertical face of a stair step.

3. any of a group of long boards or narrow platforms that can be combined in stepwise fashion.

   The choir stood on a horseshoe of risers behind the orchestra.

4. a vertical pipe, duct, or conduit.

5. Metallurgy. a chamber or enlarged opening at the top of a mold for allowing air to escape or adding extra metal.

6. Nautical.

   1. a heavy strake of planking in the vicinity of the garboard strake in a wooden vessel.

   2. rising.

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riser British  

/ ˈraɪzə /

noun

1. a person who rises, esp from bed

   an early riser

2. the vertical part of a stair or step

3. a vertical pipe, esp one within a building

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Etymology

Origin of riser

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at rise, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Estée Lauder stock was up 13% in premarket trading, the biggest riser in the S&P 500.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

“I got up on the riser, pulled the piano bench back a little bit — and it went over the side and I fell over backwards,” Troup confessed in a later interview.

From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026

Workday stock was the S&P 500’s biggest riser, up 7.2%, while the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector exchanged-traded fund climbed 1.6%.

From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026

I’m not an early riser, though it’s all circumstantial if I’m working or traveling or jet-lagged.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

Shaking, I slink down, get my slide, and slither off the side of the stage and hide behind the riser legs.

From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari