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From pillar to post   /frəm pˈɪlər tu poʊst/   Listen
noun
Pillar  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." "The place... vast and proud, Supported by a hundred pillars stood."
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."
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." "Then by main force pulled up, and on his shoulders bore, The gates of Azza, post and massy bar." "Unto his order he was a noble post." 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."
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.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"From pillar to post" Quotes from Famous Books



... Me, tempest-tost, and driven from pillar to post, A poor worn ghost, This quiet pasture calls; And dear dead people with pale hands Beckon me to ...
— The Poems And Prose Of Ernest Dowson • Ernest Dowson et al
... has only two ideas in her head. We rang the changes on rice and stewed rhubarb. The rhubarb in its oldest stage came up four days running. We called it the widow's curse! Then the servants would make a point of eating onions for supper so that the house was insufferable. And at last we were driven from pillar to post by a dreadful process called house cleaning in which, undoubtedly, life is not worth living. In the end, Mr. Osmond took pity on me and lent me Brian's study. Imagine heretical writings emanating ...
— We Two • Edna Lyall
... much alone in our nursery, as my mother travelled from pillar to post, hunting for health for her child Pauline. Our nurse, Mrs. Hills—called "Missuls" for short—left us on my tenth birthday to become my sister's lady's-maid, and this removed our first and ...
— Margot Asquith, An Autobiography: Volumes I & II • Margot Asquith
... the period of Lop-Ear's marriage I knocked about from pillar to post, in danger every night that I slept, and never comfortable. One of the Folk died, and his widow was taken into the cave of another one of the Folk. I took possession of the abandoned cave, but it was wide-mouthed, and after Red-Eye nearly trapped me in it one day, I returned to sleeping in the ...
— Before Adam • Jack London
... America to entertain the idea of purchasing five millions of bonds of his company although they were to be guaranteed by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The old gentleman felt sure that he was being driven from pillar to post by the bankers because they had agreed among themselves to purchase the bonds only upon their own terms. He asked ninety cents on the dollar for them, but this the bankers considered preposterously high. Those were the days when Western railway bonds were often ...
— Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie • Andrew Carnegie
... her anxiety to know the truth, could hardly contain her impatience. Tossed from pillar to post, dominated once by the strong, evil mind of Balcom, Zita had run the gamut of human emotions before she had barely ...
— The Master Mystery • Arthur B. Reeve and John W. Grey
... kitchen rather than the library. How long would such a tiny volume, with its 130 thin paper leaves, bear the rough and greasy handling of chefs and 'pastissiers'? Book-shelves are rare in kitchens, and the little book must have been continually moved from pillar to post. Besides, it is unlikely that copies for kitchen use would be strongly bound in morocco. The very printing and paper of the book sufficiently indicate the use to which its producers at least expected it to be put. So the little 'French ...
— The Book-Hunter at Home • P. B. M. Allan
... kind of talk, Mr. Agent. You know perfectly well that people on the main will not hire these men, even if they are able-bodied. Everybody is down on them. You said that to me last evening. They will be kicked from pillar to post—from this town to that! They will be worse than beggars. And they must drag these women and little children about with them. I will ...
— Blow The Man Down - A Romance Of The Coast - 1916 • Holman Day
... was so badgered and worried and tortured by being knocked about from post to pillar, and from pillar to post," said Mr. George, "that he got out of sorts. I don't believe he had any idea of taking aim at anybody, but he was in that condition of resentment and violence that he would come and pay for fifty shots and ...
— Bleak House • Charles Dickens


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