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Pillory - Dictionary Definition and Overview |
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Pillory : (noun)
1: a wooden instrument of punishment on a post with holes for
the neck and hands; offenders were locked in and so
exposed to public scorn [syn: stocks]
(verb)
1: expose to ridicule or public scorn [syn: gibbet]
2: punish by putting in a pillory
3: criticize harshly or violently; "The press savaged the new
President"; "The critics crucified the author for
plagiarizing a famous passage" [syn: savage, crucify]
Based on WordNet 2.0
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Pillory : \Pil"lo*ry\, n.; pl. Pillories. [F. pilori; cf. Pr.
espitlori, LL. piloricum, pilloricum, pellericum, pellorium,
pilorium, spilorium; perhaps from a derivative of L.
speculari to look around, observe. Cf. Speculate.]
A frame of adjustable boards erected on a post, and having
holes through which the head and hands of an offender were
thrust so as to be exposed in front of it. --Shak.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Pillory : \Pil"lo*ry\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pilloried; p. pr. &
vb. n. Pillorying.] [Cf. F. pilorier.]
1. To set in, or punish with, the pillory. ``Hungering for
Puritans to pillory.'' --Macaulay.
2. Figuratively, to expose to public scorn. --Gladstone.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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PILLORY, punishment. wooden machine in which the neck of the culprit is
inserted.
2. This punishment has been superseded by the adoption of the
penitentiary system in most of the states. Vide 1 Chit. Cr. Law, 797. The
punishment of standing in the pillory, so far as the same was provided by
the laws of the United States, was abolished by the act of congress of
February 27, 1839, s. 5. See Baxr. on the Stat. 48, note.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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