Pil·lar n.
 1. The general and popular term for a firm, upright, insulated support for a superstructure; a pier, column, or post; also, a column or shaft not supporting a superstructure, as one erected for a monument or an ornament.
    Jacob set a pillar upon her grave.   --Gen. xxxv. 20.
 The place . . . vast and proud,
 Supported by a hundred pillars stood.   --Dryden.
 2. Figuratively, that which resembles such a pillar in appearance, character, or office; a supporter or mainstay; as, the Pillars of Hercules; a pillar of the state. “You are a well-deserving pillar.”
    By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire.   --Milton.
 3. R. C. Ch. A portable ornamental column, formerly carried before a cardinal, as emblematic of his support to the church. [Obs.]
 4. Man. The center of the volta, ring, or manege ground, around which a horse turns.
 From pillar to post, hither and thither; to and fro; from one place or predicament to another; backward and forward. [Colloq.]
 Pillar saint. See Stylite.
 Pillars of the fauces. See Fauces, 1.


 Post, n.
 1. A piece of timber, metal, or other solid substance, fixed, or to be fixed, firmly in an upright position, especially when intended as a stay or support to something else; a pillar; as, a hitching post; a fence post; the posts of a house.
    They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses.   --Ex. xii. 7.
 Then by main force pulled up, and on his shoulders bore,
 The gates of Azza, post and massy bar.   --Milton.
    Unto his order he was a noble post.   --Chaucer.
 Note: ☞ Post, in the sense of an upright timber or strut, is used in composition, in such words as king-post, queen-post, crown-post, gatepost, etc.
 2. The doorpost of a victualer's shop or inn, on which were chalked the scores of customers; hence, a score; a debt. [Obs.]
 When God sends coin
 I will discharge your post.   --S. Rowlands.
 From pillar to post. See under Pillar.
 Knight of the post. See under Knight.
 Post hanger Mach., a bearing for a revolving shaft, adapted to be fastened to a post.
 Post hole, a hole in the ground to set the foot of a post in.
 Post mill, a form of windmill so constructed that the whole fabric rests on a vertical axis firmly fastened to the ground, and capable of being turned as the direction of the wind varies.
 Post and stall Coal Mining, a mode of working in which pillars of coal are left to support the roof of the mine.


 from pillar to post
      adv : from one place or situation to another; "we were driven from
            pillar to post" [syn: hither and thither]