Word of the Day

: September 2, 2007

pillory

noun PILL-uh-ree

What It Means

1 : a device formerly used for publicly punishing offenders consisting of a wooden frame with holes in which the head and hands can be locked

2 : a means for exposing one to public scorn or ridicule

pillory in Context

"Whenever [Charlie Brown] stepped onto a baseball field, the mound turned into a pillory, the boos and catcalls flying at him with the speed of a fastball." (Robert Seltzer, San Antonio Express-News, February 26, 2006)

Did You Know?

In days gone by, criminals who got caught might well have found themselves in the stocks (which held the feet or both feet and hands) or a pillory. Both of those forms of punishment -- and the words that name them -- have been around since the Middle Ages. We latched onto "pillory" from the Anglo-French "pilori" (which has the same meaning as our English term), but the exact origins of the French term are uncertain. For centuries, "pillory" referred only to the wooden frame used to hold a ne'er-do-well, but by the early 1600s, folks had turned the word into a verb for the act of putting someone in a pillory. Within a century, they had further expanded the verb to cover any process that led to as much public humiliation as being pilloried.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.