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pier

   Also found in: Medical, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.14 sec.
pier  (pîr)
n.
1.
a. A platform extending from a shore over water and supported by piles or pillars, used to secure, protect, and provide access to ships or boats.
b. Such a structure used predominantly for entertainment.
2. A supporting structure at the junction of connecting spans of a bridge.
3. Architecture Any of various vertical supporting structures, especially:
a. A pillar, generally rectangular in cross section, supporting an arch or roof.
b. The portion of a wall between windows, doors, or other openings.
c. A reinforcing structure that projects from a wall; a buttress.

[Middle English per, bridge support, partly from Norman French pere, piere (from Old French puiere, a support, from puie, from puier, to support, from Vulgar Latin *podire, from Latin podium, platform; see podium) and partly from Medieval Latin pera (from Old North French pire, piere, breakwater, possibly from Latin petra, rock, from Greek petr; see per-2 in Indo-European roots).]

pier
Noun
1. a structure with a deck that is built out over water and used as a landing place or promenade
2. a pillar or support that bears heavy loads
3. the part of a wall between two adjacent openings [Middle English per]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.pierpier - a platform built out from the shore into the water and supported by piles; provides access to ships and boats
bitt, bollard - a strong post (as on a wharf or quay or ship for attaching mooring lines); "the road was closed to vehicular traffic with bollards"
levee - a pier that provides a landing place on a river
platform - a raised horizontal surface; "the speaker mounted the platform"
quay - wharf usually built parallel to the shoreline
shipside - the part of a wharf that is next to a ship
2.pier - (architecture) a vertical supporting structure (as a portion of wall between two doors or windows)
support - any device that bears the weight of another thing; "there was no place to attach supports for a shelf"
wall - an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure; "the south wall had a small window"; "the walls were covered with pictures"
architecture - the discipline dealing with the principles of design and construction and ornamentation of fine buildings; "architecture and eloquence are mixed arts whose end is sometimes beauty and sometimes use"
3.pier - a support for two adjacent bridge spans
bridge, span - a structure that allows people or vehicles to cross an obstacle such as a river or canal or railway etc.
support - any device that bears the weight of another thing; "there was no place to attach supports for a shelf"

pier
noun 1. jetty, wharf, quay, promenade, landing place
Translations
pier [pɪəʳ] nmuelle m; embarcadero

pier [pɪəʳ] njetée f [of bridge etc]; pile f

pier [pɪəʳ] nPier m

pier [pɪəʳ] nmolo; [of bridge etc] → pila

pier
n pier [piə]
a platform of stone, wood etc stretching from the shore into the sea, a lake etc, used as a landing-place for boats or as a place of entertainment The passengers stepped down on to the pier. kaai رَصيف، جِسْر кей molo mole; bådebro die Pier αποβάθρα, προβλήτα muelle, embarcadero muul اسکله laituri jetée מֶזָח सेतुबन्ध, पोतघाट stup mosta kikötő; móló dermaga bryggja molo, pontile 桟橋 부두 prieplauka, pirsas (ostas) dambis, (laivu) piestātne tambangan pier brygge, pir molo, pomost cais chei, doc пирс; причал mólo pomol mol pir, []brygga ท่าเรือ iskele 碼頭 мол, хвилеріз پشتہ cầu tàu


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Suppose I cut the time to San Francisco one-half by building a big pier out there almost to Goat Island and establishing a ferry system with modern up-to-date boats?
] The pier was crowded with carriages and men; passengers were arriving and hurrying on board; the vessel's decks were encumbered with trunks and valises; groups of excursionists, arrayed in unattractive traveling costumes, were moping about in a drizzling rain and looking as droopy and woebegone as so many molting chickens.
Right in the midst of the narrows lies an islet with some ruins; on the south shore they have built a pier for the service of the Ferry; and at the end of the pier, on the other side of the road, and backed against a pretty garden of holly-trees and hawthorns, I could see the building which they called the Hawes Inn.
 
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