baluster

[ bal-uh-ster ]
See synonyms for baluster on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Architecture. any of a number of closely spaced supports for a railing.

  2. balusters, a balustrade.

  1. any of various symmetrical supports, as furniture legs or spindles, tending to swell toward the bottom or top.

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Origin of baluster

1
1595–1605; <French, Middle French balustre<Italian balaustro pillar shaped like the calyx of the pomegranate flower, ultimately <Latin balaustium<Greek balaústion pomegranate flower

Other words from baluster

  • bal·us·tered, adjective

Words that may be confused with baluster

Words Nearby baluster

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use baluster in a sentence

  • This hall the same colour,” said I, “with the rails of the baluster in the cream white of the trim.

    The Idyl of Twin Fires | Walter Prichard Eaton
  • Fred was quite willing, for his curiosity was excited; so, seizing the baluster with both hands, he gave it a twist.

    Crown and Sceptre | George Manville Fenn
  • The young girl became yet whiter; a moment she clung to the baluster; then started to descend the stairs.

    Under the Rose | Frederic Stewart Isham
  • He grasped the baluster-rail, and stood wildly clinging, like a shipwrecked sailor to a mast.

    The Honorable Percival | Alice Hegan Rice
  • She had partly descended the staircase and she stopped, leaning against the baluster and smiling up at him.

British Dictionary definitions for baluster

baluster

/ (ˈbæləstə) /


noun
  1. any of a set of posts supporting a rail or coping

adjective
  1. (of a shape) swelling at the base and rising in a concave curve to a narrow stem or neck: a baluster goblet stem

Origin of baluster

1
C17: from French balustre, from Italian balaustro pillar resembling a pomegranate flower, ultimately from Greek balaustion

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012