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 thecorpse of adead person - noun a
platform orstand where a body orcoffin is placed - noun A count of forty
threads in thewarp orchain 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
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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'Friend,' whispered he, 'for charity conduct us to some safe place where we may withdraw this bier from the sacrilegious eye of curiosity.'
The Scottish Chiefs 1875
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There may be fifty or sixty of these dents to one inch, for weaving very fine linen; usually there are about twenty, which gives a "bier" -- a counting out of forty warp-threads to each inch.
Home Life in Colonial Days Alice Morse Earle 1881
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Laid out on the bier was the headless body of Agnès La Grange.
Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man’s Smile Gyles Brandreth 2009
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Laid out on the bier was the headless body of Agnès La Grange.
Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man’s Smile Gyles Brandreth 2009
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Laid out on the bier was the headless body of Agnès La Grange.
Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man’s Smile Gyles Brandreth 2009
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Laid out on the bier was the headless body of Agnès La Grange.
Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man’s Smile Gyles Brandreth 2009
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Laid out on the bier was the headless body of Agnès La Grange.
Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man’s Smile Gyles Brandreth 2009
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But the word _‘ash_, or _‘ayish_ does not differ importantly from the word _na‘sh_, in Hebrew "assembly," in Arabic "bier," which has been the word used by the Arabs from remote antiquity to denote the four bright stars in the hind-quarters of the Great Bear; those which form the body of the Plough.
The Astronomy of the Bible An Elementary Commentary on the Astronomical References of Holy Scripture 1889
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Confusion and fear in his heart, he moved forward reluctantly and saw that the face on the bier was his own.
Lord of the Silver Bow Gemmell, David 2005
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The body is immediately wrapped up in the skin or clothing worn during life, and in the course of a day or two, it is placed upon the wirkatti or bier, which is made of branches crossed so as to form the radii of a circle, an examination is then entered upon as to the cause of death, in the following manner.
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