1. (n.) A kind of pillar; a cylindrical or polygonal support for a roof, ceiling, statue, etc., somewhat ornamented, and usually composed of base, shaft, and capital. See Order.

2. (n.) Anything resembling, in form or position, a column in architecture; an upright body or mass; a shaft or obelisk; as, a column of air, of water, of mercury, etc.; the Column Vendome; the spinal column.

3. (n.) A body of troops formed in ranks, one behind the other; -- contradistinguished from line. Compare Ploy, and Deploy.

4. (n.) A small army.

5. (n.) A number of ships so arranged as to follow one another in single or double file or in squadrons; -- in distinction from line, where they are side by side.

6. (n.) A perpendicular set of lines, not extending across the page, and separated from other matter by a rule or blank space; as, a column in a newspaper.

7. (n.) A perpendicular line of figures.

8. (n.) The body formed by the union of the stamens in the Mallow family, or of the stamens and pistil in the orchids.