Hypertext Webster Gateway: "bier"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Bier
the frame on which dead bodies were conveyed to the grave (Luke
7:14).
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bier \Bier\, n. [OE. b[ae]e, beere, AS. b?r, b?re; akin to D.
baar, OHG. b[=a]ra, G. bahre, Icel barar, D? baare, L.
feretrum, Gr. ?, from the same ?? bear to produce. See 1st
{Bear}, and cf. {Barrow}.]
1. A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed
or borne to the grave.
2. (Weaving) A count of forty threads in the warp or chain of
woolen cloth. --Knight.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
bier
n 1: a coffin along with its stand; "we followed the bier to the
graveyard"
2: a stand to support a corpse or a coffin prior to burial
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.