Definition of "stanchion" []

• An upright pole, post, or support. (noun)
• A framework consisting of two or more vertical bars, used to secure cattle in a stall or at a feed trough. (noun)
• To equip with stanchions. (verb-transitive)
• To confine (cattle) by means of stanchions. (verb-transitive)

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.

• "Yasushi Takashita smiled sheepishly when his slender girlfriend Rika, clinging to the train stanchion next to him, suggested he use the Internet to search for some college-related information he needs."
• "A stanchion is a restraining device that loosely clamps a goat's neck limiting its forward and backward motion while permitting some lateral motion."
• "I felt like one of those guys who's walking briskly down the street text messaging and is suddenly knocked cold by a streetlight stanchion he didn't see."