Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A handrail, especially on a staircase.
- n. Such a handrail together with its supporting structures.
- n. One of the vertical supports of a handrail; a baluster.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Corrupt forms of baluster.
- n. A handle-brush used in spinning- and weaving-mills for cleaning the gearing of machinery.
Wiktionary
- n. The handrail on the side of a staircase.
- n. One of the vertical supports of a handrail; a baluster.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A baluster.
- n. The balustrade of a staircase. Formerly used in this sense mostly in the plural, now mostly in the singular.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a railing at the side of a staircase or balcony to prevent people from falling
Etymologies
- Corruption of baluster. (Wiktionary)
- Variant of baluster. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
““The banister is an especially interesting piece,” Lowell said as they continued the tour.”
“Dangling from the banister was a cardboard notice, which read:”
“She won't admit it, though, and laughs and kisses her hand over the banister, which is all the closer we have seen her yet.”
“BALUSTER (through the Fr. from the Ital. _balaustro_, so-called from a supposed likeness to the flower of the [Greek: balaustion], or wild pomegranate; the word has been corrupted in English into "banister"), a small moulded shaft, square or circular, in stone or wood and sometimes in metal, supporting the coping of a parapet or the rail of a staircase, an assemblage of them being known as a balustrade.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy"
“The banister shook under his grip as he pulled himself up the stairs.”
“The couple also restored some of the brownstone's original features, such as the five marble fireplaces, the exposed brick and stone and the banister of the staircase, which has recycled carpeting.”
“Philip Montgomery for The Wall Street Journal The couple also restored some of the brownstone's original features, such as the five marble fireplaces, the exposed brick and stone, and the banister of the staircase, which has recycled carpeting.”
“Another childhood experience influenced the meal: Mayonnaise was banned because Fallon once got his head stuck in a banister at his grandparents' house, and they smeared mayo on it to squeeze him out.”
“Her hands slide down the wall as she uses the column of the banister to help her up.”
“Another small vine hovered by his elbow, a living banister.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘banister’.
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Steroids
Nouns that end in "ster". The -er suffix (as in blaster) doesn't count.
hamster, filibuster, aster, master, mister, baluster, banister, barrister, monster, plaster, semester, bister and 56 more...
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Reading 2nd Round
fugitive, hearth, elixir, perpetrator, surreal, tavern, stalk, strut, duress, cavil, intriguing, banister and 10 more...
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Two years
Okay, I admit it. I made a list of words my daughter knew when she was two years old.
bat, baba, a, abalone, about, acorn, adrienne, after, again, airplane, alison, all and 694 more...
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GRE
Taisha GRE Bible
archaic, archetype, archipelago, architect, archive, arctic, ardor, arduous, argot, arid, armory, arrest and 289 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, B
bloviate, bejesus, brouhaha, behoove, bodacious, bamboozle, banshee, bub, bolus, blob, bubbly, bleb and 414 more...
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List of words to expand my vocabulary
does what it says on the tin, and is severely needed.
indolent, insolent, idly, divulge, tattle, benign, roguish, daintily, idle, dowdy, sordid, wanton and 242 more...
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Reading Random
Got unknown words randomly
delinquency, modicum, dissuade, incendiary, destitute, lachrymose, plight, ruse, empirical, pedantic, demography, giggle and 444 more...
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Kratoz's Words
incendiary, gambit, vigilante, amorphous, idiosyncratic, denizen, tautology, spurious, indulgent, quintessential, mediocre, ostentatious and 98 more...
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Palabrarium
The delicious wonderful words that I love terribly dearly and without which, the world would be a less inventive and worthwhile place. Also, ostensibly, the reason 1984 and esperanto secretly suck.
panoply, footpad, piccalilli, snickersnee, marl, hispid, greengage, slumgullion, golliwog, mumbletypeg, circumlocution, quiescent and 366 more...
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space place home
a comforting list of words that sing of indoor spaces
home, space, place, room, nook, garret, attic, atelier, studio, bay window, boudoir, wardrobe and 12 more...
Tweets
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