column

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Architecture A supporting pillar consisting of a base, a cylindrical shaft, and a capital.
2. n. Something resembling an architectural pillar in form or function: a column of mercury in a thermometer.
3. n. Printing One of two or more vertical sections of typed lines lying side by side on a page and separated by a rule or a blank space.
4. n. A feature article that appears regularly in a publication, such as a newspaper.
5. n. A formation, as of troops or vehicles, in which all elements follow one behind the other.
6. n. Botany A columnlike structure, especially one formed by the union of a stamen and the style in an orchid flower, or one formed by the united staminal filaments in flowers such as those of the hibiscus or mallow.
7. n. Anatomy Any of various tubular or pillarlike supporting structures in the body, each generally having a single tissue origin and function: the vertebral column.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A solid body of greater length than thickness, standing upright, and generally serving as a support to something resting on its top; a pillar; more specifically, as an architectural term, a cylindrical or slightly tapering or fusiform body, called a shaft, set vertically on a stylobate, or on a congeries of moldings which forms its base, and surmounted by a spreading mass which forms its capital. Columns are distinguished by the names of the styles of architecture which they represent: thus, there are Egyptian, Grecian, Roman, and medieval columns. In classic architecture they are further distinguished by the names of the orders to which they belong, as Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian columns; and again, in various styles, by some peculiarity of position, of construction, of form, or of ornament, as attached, twisted, cabled orrudented, and carolitic columns. Columns are used chiefly in the construction or adornment of buildings. They are also used singly, however, for various purposes: as, the astronomical column, from which astronomical observations are made; the chronological column, inscribed with a record of historical events; the gnomonic column, which supports a dial; the itinerary column, pointing out the various roads diverging from it; the milliary column, set up as a center from which to measure distances; the triumphal column, dedicated to the hero of a victory, etc.
2. n. Anything resembling a column in shape; any body pressing perpendicularly on its base, and throughout of the same or about the same diameter as its base: as, a column of water, air, or mercury.
3. n. In botany, a body formed by the union of filaments with one another, as in Malvaceæ, or of stamens with the style, as in orchids. See cut under androphore.
4. n. In anatomy and zoology, a part or organ likened to a column or pillar; a columna or columella: as, the spinal column; the fleshy columns of the heart.
5. n. In Crinoidea, specifically, the stalk or stem of a crinoid.
6. n. Milit., a formation of troops narrow in front and extended from front to rear: thus distinguished from a line, which is extended in front and thin in depth.
7. n. Nautical, a number of ships following one another.
8. n. In printing, one of the typographical divisions of printed matter in two or more vertical rows of lines. The separation of columns is made by a narrow blank space in which is sometimes placed a vertical line or rule. Division into columns economizes space, and saves the fatigue of the eye arising from attempts to trace the connection of an over-long line with the following line.
9. n. Hence The contents of or the matter printed in such a column, especially in a newspaper: as, the columns of the daily press.
10. n. An apparatus used for the fixation of colors upon fabrics by means of steam. It consists of a cylinder of copper punctured with small holes and having a steampipe in its interior. The printed fabrics are wrapped around the cylinder, and the steam is allowed to percolate through, setting the colors in what is called steam style. The column is generally used in France, while the steamchest serving for the same operation is used in England.
11. n. two symmetrically placed tracts of medium-sized nerve-cells of the spinal cord, laterodorsad of the central canal, confined to the thoracic region.
12. n. A short upright line which separates written or printed words or symbols. Its most common uses are to indicate, in copied or reprinted passages, especially title-pages, the ending of a line in the original copy, and in metrical works, liturgies, chants, etc., the close of a foot, rhythm, or measure.
13. n. The mast or vertical member of a hoisting apparatus, such as a crane, usually so constructed that no bracing or guys shall be required at the top to resist the bending stresses due to the load.

Wiktionary

1. n. A solid upright structure designed usually to support a larger structure above it, such as a roof or horizontal beam, but sometimes for decoration.
2. n. A vertical line of entries in a table, usually read from top to bottom.
3. n. A body of troops or army vehicles, usually strung out along a road.
4. n. A body of text meant to be read line by line, especially in printed material that has multiple adjacent such on a single page.
5. n. A unit of width, especially of advertisements, in a periodical, equivalent to the width of a usual column of text.
6. n. by extension A recurring feature in a periodical, especially an opinion piece, especially by a single author or small rotating group of authors, or on a single theme.
7. n. Something having similar vertical form or structure to the things mentioned above, such as a spinal column.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Arch.) A kind of pillar; a cylindrical or polygonal support for a roof, ceiling, statue, etc., somewhat ornamented, and usually composed of base, shaft, and capital. See order.
2. n. Anything resembling, in form or position, a column in architecture; an upright body or mass; a shaft or obelisk.
3. n. A body of troops formed in ranks, one behind the other; -- contradistinguished from line. Compare Ploy, and Deploy.
4. n. A small army.
5. n. (Naut.) A number of ships so arranged as to follow one another in single or double file or in squadrons; -- in distinction from “line”, where they are side by side.
6. n. (Print.) A perpendicular set of lines, not extending across the page, and separated from other matter by a rule or blank space.
7. n. (Arith.) A perpendicular line of figures.
8. n. (Bot.) The body formed by the union of the stamens in the Mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the orchids.
9. n. (Print.) one of a series of articles written in a periodical, usually under the same title and at regular intervals; it may be written and signed by one or more authors, or may appear pseudonymously or anonymously, as an editorial column.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. (architecture) a tall vertical cylindrical structure standing upright and used to support a structure
2. n. anything that approximates the shape of a column or tower
3. n. a vertical array of numbers or other information
4. n. a line of units following one after another
5. n. a vertical glass tube used in column chromatography; a mixture is poured in the top and washed through a stationary substance where components of the mixture are adsorbed selectively to form colored bands
6. n. a vertical cylindrical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (such as a monument)
7. n. any tubular or pillar-like supporting structure in the body
8. n. a page or text that is vertically divided
9. n. an article giving opinions or perspectives