newel post
1
8.1
- noun
- /ˈnjuːəl poʊst/
- Specialized
:
poste de barandilla
- The newel post at the bottom of the staircase provides support for the handrail.
- hand on the newel post
- newel posts and banisters
Examples
-
He rapped one knuckle against the newel post, just to hear a sound.
Fiction book (1992) -
A tattered no-trespassing sign was nailed to the right-hand newel post.
Academic text (2010) -
I set my hand on the newel post and thought hard.
Fiction book (1992) -
In this case, the newel post is an architectural detail.
Blog text (16) -
Notice how the base of the newel post is mirrored on the step below it.
Blog text (16) -
Molly groaned and held onto the newel post.
Fiction book (1996) -
He gripped the newel post in one leather-gloved hand, watching her.
Fiction book (2002) -
He went to the door, and Nina clung to the newel post and watched him greet the Bakers, who lived down the street.
Fiction book (1990) -
When she heard the nighttime pacing and the radio at full volume, she stepped into the vestibule, braced on the newel post, and shouted, "Quiet!" Then the trek upstairs to discipline him face-to-face.
Fiction book (1990) -
After polishing the wood, the newel post looked beautiful against the dark staircase.
Synonyms
99
1.0
A long pole set upright in the ground to support or mark
3
8.8
A vertical post that supports a railing or fence
1
9.2
The main post that supports a staircase, often at the top or bottom
Surface Forms
Morphology
The MWE is a straightforward noun+noun compound whose meaning follows directly from 'newel' (a central/supporting stair post) plus 'post' (an upright support), so the definition is compositionally predictable. There is no idiomatic or metaphorical shift involved, so a learner who knows both constituent words will understand the expression.
Etymology
The noun newel post may come from an old word for a 'knot' or 'knob', because the top of the upright post was often carved into a round knob. So today newel post means the main upright post at the top or bottom of a staircase that supports the handrail and people who hold it for balance.