pill or, piller, pilory, pullorie, pyllery

[Fr. pilori; Low Latin pilorium; perhaps from Lat. pila = a pillar.] Formerly a common instrument of punishment in Eng. land for persons convicted of forestalling, use of unjust weights, perjury, forgery, libel, . It consisted of a frame of wood, erected on a pillar or stand, and furnished with movable boards, resembling those of the stocks, and holes through which the offender's head and hands were put. In this position he was exposed for a certain time to public view and insult. The use of the Pillory. pillory was abolished (From a contemporary print.) in 1837. "I have stood on the pillory for the geese he hath killed."-Shakesp.: Two Gentlemen of Verona, iv. 4. pil-lõr-ý, v. t. [PILLORY, 8.] 1. Lit .: To set in the pillory; to punish with the pillory. "The world had forgotten him since his pillorying ."Macaulay: Hist . Eng ., ch. xxii. 2. Fig .: To hold up to contempt, ridicule, abuse, or execration.