ALTAR

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does altar mean? 

• ALTAR (noun)
  The noun ALTAR has 2 senses:

1. the table in Christian churches where communion is given

2. a raised structure on which gifts or sacrifices to a god are made

  Familiarity information: ALTAR used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ALTAR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The table in Christian churches where communion is given

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

altar; communion table; Lord's table

Hypernyms ("altar" is a kind of...):

table (a piece of furniture having a smooth flat top that is usually supported by one or more vertical legs)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A raised structure on which gifts or sacrifices to a god are made

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("altar" is a kind of...):

construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "altar"):

high altar (the main altar in a church)

 Context examples 

I am therefore by no means discouraged by what you have just said, and shall hope to lead you to the altar ere long.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

She will be rejoiced, Copperfield, to renew her acquaintance with one who has proved himself in all respects a worthy minister at the sacred altar of friendship.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Martyrs on the altar of our country.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We will set it beneath the altar, and not touch it until we are really in need of it.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

They were all three standing in a knot in front of the altar.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If I do go with him—if I do make the sacrifice he urges, I will make it absolutely: I will throw all on the altar—heart, vitals, the entire victim.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Perhaps, indeed, at that time she scarcely saw Mr. Elton, but as the clergyman whose blessing at the altar might next fall on herself.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

If you were to see them at the altar, you would suppose they were going to be married.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Why, it’s worse than when you beat Black Baruk; and if it weren’t for your topcoat, I couldn’t swear you were the man who led me to the altar!

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mr. Crawford smiled his acquiescence, and stepping forward to Maria, said, in a voice which she only could hear, “I do not like to see Miss Bertram so near the altar.”

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)