bier
2
9.9
- noun
- /bɪr/
- A Weston portrait of her was placed on the bier, amid masses of her favorite calla lilies and other flowers.
Examples
-
The people strung out in procession behind the bier were alarmed at the approach of Dorsakar and quickly moved aside.
Fiction book (1996) -
The wheels of the bier holding her mother's casket squealed.
Fiction book (1992) -
The bier was now brought to the site where the service was to be held.
Fiction book (1996) -
In moving to either side of his path, they opened a lane toward the bier.
Fiction book (1996) -
When the bier reached the bottom, the woman in white began to keen and tremble.
Fiction book (1996) -
The mourners turn and begin to file away from the bier.
Fiction book (2001) -
Large wood poles are inserted through these tubes in order to carry Kazembe's bier.
Academic text (2006) -
In the center of the room to the right was an open casket on a waist-high bier with a few rows of folding chairs set before it.
Fiction book (1999) -
The mourners gathered around the bier to pay their last respects to the deceased.
-
As the procession moved forward, the bier was carried aloft by four close friends.
How Ornate
Surface Forms
Etymology
Bier comes from an old word meaning 'to carry', the same root as the verb bear. A bier is literally the thing that 'carries' a coffin, which is why we use that word for the stand used in funerals.