EnglishMain Dictionary
column
Universal Words
noun
1 a tall, solid, vertical post, usually round and made of stone, which supports or decorates a building or stands alone as a MONUMENT:
The temple is supported by marble columns. * Nelson's Column in London
2 a thing shaped like a column:
a column of smoke (= smoke rising straight up)
seealsoSPINALCOLUMN, STEERINGCOLUMN
3 (abbreviation col.) one of the vertical sections into which the printed page of a book, newspaper, etc. is divided:
a column of text * a dictionary with two columns per page * Put a mark in the appropriate column. * Their divorce filled a lot of column inches in the national papers (= got a lot of attention).
4 a part of a newspaper or magazine which appears regularly and deals with a particular subject or is written by a particular writer:
the gossip / financial column * I always read her column in the local paper.
seealsoAGONYCOLUMN, PERSONALCOLUMN
5 a series of numbers or words arranged one under the other down a page:
to add up a column of figures
6 a long, moving line of people or vehicles:
a long column of troops and tanks
seealsoFIFTHCOLUMN
