Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A stand on which a corpse or a coffin containing a corpse is placed before burial.
  • noun A coffin along with its stand.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A frame, usually of wood, on which to carry a load; a barrow; a litter; a stretcher.
  • noun Specifically A framework on which a corpse, or the coffin containing it, is laid before burial; also, one on which it is carried to the grave by hand.
  • noun A count of forty threads in the warp or chain of woolen cloth. Imp. Dict.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave.
  • noun (Weaving) A count of forty threads in the warp or chain of woolen cloth.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a litter to transport the corpse of a dead person
  • noun a platform or stand where a body or coffin is placed
  • noun A count of forty threads in the warp or chain of woollen cloth.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a coffin along with its stand
  • noun a stand to support a corpse or a coffin prior to burial

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration (influenced by French bière, coffin) of Middle English ber, from Old English bēr; see bher- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English bere, from Old English bēr, (West Saxon) bǣr, from Proto-Germanic *bērō (cf. East Frisian beere, Dutch baar, German Bahre), from *ƀeranan 'to bear'. More at bear.

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