I. ˈpu̇lˌpit, ˈpəl-, -_pə̇t, usu -d.+V noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Late Latin pulpitum, from Latin, scaffold, stage, platform
1.
a. : a usually enclosed elevated platform or a high reading desk used in preaching or conducting a service of worship
an ornate medieval pulpit with a flight of steps and a sounding board
read from the large Bible on the pulpit
b. : an elevated structure for a machine operator
an operator in the control pulpit pressed a button — Newsweek
2.
[Middle English, from Latin pulpitum ]
obsolete : an elevated platform for a public speaker
3.
a. : the clergy as a profession : preachers
the power of the pulpit
b. : the ministry of preaching a religious faith : a preaching position
called to a city pulpit
4. : a support for a harpooner on the end of the bowsprit in a whaling ship
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
: to supply with a pulpit or with preaching
intransitive verb
: to preach from a pulpit