column - Definition | Dictionary definition of column

Definition of column

Nouns

a line of units following one after another

Type of:: Indian file, file, single file
a line of persons or things ranged one behind the other

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

Synonyms:: chromatography column

Type of:: tube, tubing
conduit consisting of a long hollow object (usually cylindrical) used to hold and conduct objects or liquids or gases

a vertical array of numbers or other information

"he added a column of numbers"

Type of:: array
an orderly arrangement

anything that approximates the shape of a column or tower

"the test tube held a column of white powder"

Synonyms:: pillar, tower

Types:: columella
a small column (or structure resembling a column) that is a part of a plant or animal; hoodoo
(geology) a column of weathered and unusually shaped rock

Type of:: form, shape
the spatial arrangement of something as distinct from its substance

an article giving opinions or perspectives

Synonyms:: editorial, newspaper column

Types:: agony column
a newspaper column devoted to personal problems

Type of:: article
nonfictional prose forming an independent part of a publication

a vertical cylindrical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (such as a monument)

Synonyms:: pillar

Examples:: Washington Monument
a stone obelisk built in Washington in 1884 to honor George Washington; 555 feet tall

Types:: obelisk
a stone pillar having a rectangular cross section tapering towards a pyramidal top; totem pole
a tribal emblem consisting of a pillar carved and painted with totemic figures; erected by Indian tribes of the northwest Pacific coast

Type of:: construction, structure
a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts

(architecture) a tall vertical cylindrical structure standing upright and used to support a structure

Synonyms:: pillar

Types:: show 8 types...; hide 8 types...; atlas, telamon
a figure of a man used as a supporting column; caryatid
a supporting column carved in the shape of a person; newel
the central pillar of a circular staircase; pilaster
a rectangular column that usually projects about a third of its width from the wall to which it is attached; pile, piling, spile, stilt
a column of wood or steel or concrete that is driven into the ground to provide support for a structure; sheath pile, sheet pile, sheet piling
a pile in a row of piles driven side by side to retain earth or prevent seepage; support column
a column that supports a heavy weight; lally, lally column
support column consisting of a steel cylinder filled with concrete