From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishpedestalped‧es‧tal /ˈpedəstəl/ noun [countable] 1 AAAVSthe base on which a pillar or statue stands a Grecian bust on a pedestal2 DHFDHHa solid vertical post that supports something such as a table the pedestal of the dentist’s chairpedestal basin British English (=a bowl to wash your hands in, supported by a pedestal)3 → put/place somebody on a pedestal
Examples from the Corpus
pedestal• He wanted Asquith on a pedestal and Lloyd George in an isolation hospital.• If it is going to be special, put it on a pedestal of sorts.• Some examples still had a moulded foot pedestal, while others had four short, cast and chased legs.• And Murph will come down from that good-guy pedestal a little.• The reverse process was used to install the launcher on pedestals at the pad.• Goddesses are made from female stones and the pedestal from male stones.Origin pedestal (1500-1600) French piédestal, from Old Italian piedestallo, from pie di stallo “foot of the stall” 