1. 1. A handrail, especially on a staircase.
   2. Such a handrail together with its supporting structures.
2. One of the vertical supports of a handrail; a baluster.

[Variant of BALUSTER.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.