bier n
1. a coffin along with its stand; "we followed the bier to the graveyard"
2. a stand to support a corpse or a coffin prior to burial

Bier \Bier\, n. [OE. b[ae]e, beere, AS. b?r, b?re; akin to D. baar, OHG. b[=a]ra, G. bahre, Icel barar, D? baare, L. feretrum, Gr. ?, from the same ?? bear to produce. See 1st Bear, and cf. Barrow.]
1. A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave.
2. (Weaving) A count of forty threads in the warp or chain of woolen cloth. --Knight.

See more meaning on Bier...

A bier is a stand on which a corpse, or coffin or casket containing a corpse, is placed to lie in state or to be carried to the grave.

In Christian burial, the bier is often placed in the center of the nave with candles surrounding it, and remains in place during the funeral.

The bier is a flat frame, traditionally wooden but sometimes of other materials. In antiquity it was often a wooden board on which the dead was placed, covered with a shroud. In modern times, the corpse is rarely carried on the bier without being first placed in a coffin or casket, though the coffin or casket is sometimes kept open.

A bier is often draped with cloth to lend dignity to the funeral service. The modern funeral industry uses a collapsible aluminum bier on wheels, known as a "church truck" to move the coffin to and from the church or funeral home for services.

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