Word.ws English Dictionary

from post to pillar

Syllables: from post to pil·lar

from post to pillar is the alternative form of from pillar to post.

Meaning of from pillar to post

Adverb

from pillar to post (not comparable)

  1. (dated, idiomatic) From one place, place, or thing to another, hither and thither.
    • Mr. [Charles] Babbage, in his work on the Economy of Manufactures, suggests a new plan of forwarding the mail. […] Mr. Babbage proposes the erection of pillars along each line of road; these pillars are to be connected by inclined wires, or iron rods, along which the letters, inclosed in cylinders...1832 July, “A Novelty in Posting”, in The Annual Register, or a View of the History, Politics, and Literature of the Year 1832, volume LXXIV, London: Printed for Baldwin and Cradock [et al.]...

Origin of from post to pillar

Possibly a reference to the rapid movement of the ball in real tennis. The term is believed to have given rise to the modern term from pillar to post.

Questions about from post to pillar

What is from post to pillar the alternative form of?
From post to pillar is the alternative form of from pillar to post.

Words near from post to pillar in the dictionary

  1. from off
  2. from off of
  3. from on high
  4. from one day to the next
  5. from pillar to post
  6. from post to pillar
  7. from scratch
  8. from sea to shining sea
  9. from side to side
  10. from soda to hock
  11. from someone's mouth to God's ears

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: from post to pillar (page history and authors); from pillar to post (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-from post to pillar.ogg.

Cite this entry: “from post to pillar.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/from_post_to_pillar. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.