stanchion
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
stanchions,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stanchioned,
past participle, past
-
stanchioning
present participle
-
to furnish with stanchions.
-
to secure by or to a stanchion or stanchions.
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
stanchionsimple
-
stanchionssimple
-
have stanchionedperfect
-
has stanchionedperfect
-
am stanchioningprogressive
-
are stanchioningprogressive
-
is stanchioningprogressive
-
have been stanchioningperfect progressive
-
has been stanchioningperfect progressive
Past
-
stanchionedsimple
-
had stanchionedperfect
-
was stanchioningprogressive
-
were stanchioningprogressive
-
had been stanchioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stanchion
1375–1425; late Middle English stanchon < Old French estanchon, equivalent to estanche (variant of estance, probably < Vulgar Latin *stantia, equivalent to Latin stant- (stem of stāns ), present participle of stāre to stand + -ia -y 3 ) + -on noun suffix
Explanation
A stanchion is a post or rod used to support something. Stanchions hold things up. You can almost see the word stand in stanchion, and that should help you remember what it means. A stanchion stands straight up, and it supports a larger structure. In just about any building, you will see posts going from the floor to the ceiling: those are stanchions. Stanchions are part of many walls too. If you took the stanchions out, the building might fall down. Stanchions always go up and down; they're vertical and provide support.
Vocabulary lists containing stanchion
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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Heart of Darkness
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Class Matters
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Brooking's second goal is best remembered for getting lodged in the stanchion in the top corner of the net.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
That’s because it plans to run two lines simultaneously on either side of a new, shorter stanchion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025
However, even with a payment method linked, there was an issue at the stanchion, as the scanner repeatedly prompted the addition of a payment method when trying to re-enter the seating area.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2024
He landed near the basket stanchion and immediately began grabbing at his left knee, while teammates reacted in obvious disbelief.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 23, 2023
Stretching from the front pulpit to a back stanchion and all around the Frog were stainless-steel lifelines rigged in stout stainless-steel posts.
From "The Voyage Of The Frog" by Gary Paulsen
That means the end of those stainless-steel stanchions with numbers etched into them at the gate, where passengers today line up based on boarding position assigned at check-in and then pick any open seat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025
And you're funneled through a labyrinth of retractable stanchions like you’re about to meet a costumed mouse at Magic Kingdom, not a budtender named Jade.
From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2025
This alternative offers a tap-and-go method instead of GameFace ID, still allowing fans to move seamlessly throughout the arena, though with the extra step of touching their phones to the stanchions mentioned earlier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2024
“That triggered patrons to leave lines, which caused stanchions to fall, causing a succession of loud sounds.”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 15, 2022
Everything possible was carved with designs, even the stanchions where the goats put their heads and the stalls in the little barn.
From "Miracles on Maple Hill" by Virginia Sorensen
And the compass stanchioned on the bridge had gone along with a wave, stanchions and all.
From Tramping on Life An Autobiographical Narrative by Harry Kemp
The room was high, narrow, and lit by a barred and stanchioned window, far above my reach, even if I had been unbound.
From A Monk of Fife by Andrew Lang
It is set lengthwise, fore and aft, a stout hair-cloth chair at top, another at bottom, and one at each side—all, like the table, stanchioned to the timbers of the half-deck.
From The Flag of Distress A Story of the South Sea by Mayne Reid
They mustered eighteen in all, and in half an hour they were ironed in a row along the stanchioned rail of the torpedo-boat.
From The Wreck of the Titan or, Futility by Morgan Robertson
The doors were closed, and the windows were stanchioned with iron.
From Pilgrimage from the Alps to the Tiber Or The Influence of Romanism on Trade, Justice, and Knowledge by James Aitken Wylie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
