pylon
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpaɪ.lɒn/
Forms: form: pylons
Etymology: Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πυλών (pulṓn, “gateway”).
Senses: glosses: A gateway to the inner part of an Ancient Egyptian temple.
examples: text: The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.
ref: 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
text: After two pylonless months, July's pylon comes all the way from the hills outside Wellington, New Zealand.
ref: 2023 July 8, “Pylon of the Month - July 2023”, in Pylon of the Month:
text: These smaller pylons have might not possess the majesty of the giant 400 kV pylons, but they have a squat charm all of their own and 132 kV was the original voltage of the National Grid when it was rolled out in the 1920s.
ref: 2025 April 14, “Pylon of the Month - April 2025”, in Pylon of the Month:
topics: business
electrical-engineering
electricity
electromagnetism
energy
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: A tower-like structure, usually one of a series, used to support high-voltage electricity cables.
topics: architecture
glosses: A tall steel or concrete tower from which cables are strung.
glosses: A lighting mast; a freestanding support for floodlights.
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: A structure used to mount engines, missiles etc., to the underside of an aircraft wing or fuselage.
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: A starting derrick for an aeroplane.
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: A post, tower, etc. as on an aerodrome, or flying ground, serving to bound or mark a prescribed course of flight.
examples: text: The Washington Monument is often described as an obelisk, and sometimes even as a “true obelisk,” even though it is not. A true obelisk is a monolith, a pylon formed out of a single piece of stone.
ref: 2012 January 24, Henry Petroski, “The Washington Monument”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, page 16:
glosses: An obelisk.
glosses: A traffic cone.
topics: American-football
ball-games
football
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: An orange marker designating one of the four corners of the end zone in American football.
examples: text: McKenzie uses a pylon for all above knee amputees, and orders a permanent leg when function merits it.
ref: 1963, Robert Mazet, The Influence of Prosthesis Wearing on the Health of the Geriatric Patient, page 5:
text: During the early postoperative period, before the patient has a prosthesis, they may have a rigid dressing with a pylon.
ref: 2007, Michelle H. Cameron, Linda Monroe, Physical Rehabilitation - E-Book:
topics: medicine
sciences
glosses: A rigid prosthesis for the lower leg.
Derived terms: anchor pylon
electricity pylon
pylonless
pylonlike
pylon poet
pylon sign
pylon turn