What does "pillow" mean?

Pillow: (Mach.) A piece of metal or wood, forming a support to equalize pressure; a brass; a pillow block. [R.]

Additional senses

  1. 2.(Naut.) A block under the inner end of a bowsprit.
  2. 3.A kind of plain, coarse fustian. Lace pillow, a cushion used in making hand-wrought lace. -- Pillow bier Etym: [OE. pilwebere; cf. LG. büre a pillowcase], a pillowcase; pillow slip. [Obs.] Chaucer. -- Pillow block (Mach.), a block, or standard, for supporting a journal, as of a shaft. It is usually bolted to the frame or foundation of a machine, and is often furnished with journal boxes, and a movable cover, or cap, for tightening the bearings by means of bolts; -- called also pillar block, or plumber block. -- Pillow lace, handmade lace wrought with bobbins upon a lace pillow. -- Pillow of a plow, a crosspiece of wood which serves to raise or lower the beam. -- Pillow sham, an ornamental covering laid over a pillow when not in use. -- Pillow slip, a pillowcase.
  3. 4.To rest or lay upon, or as upon, a pillow; to support; as, to pillow the head. Pillows his chin upon an orient wave. Milton.

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