Definition of "lingam" []

• Hinduism A stylized phallus worshiped as a symbol of the god Shiva. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "They are easily recognizable for all carry the lingam, which is commonly enclosed in a red scarf worn round the neck or among the richer classes in"
• "Shiva's symbol -- the "lingam" with which Vishnu began the Creation -- is worshiped by everybody, apparently."
• "It was merely an upright "lingam," at first, no larger than a stove-pipe, and stood in the midst of a shoreless ocean."