n. A platform or raised floor at one end or one side of a reception-room or hall, upon which seats for distinguished persons are placed; especially, such a platform covered with a canopy: formerly often called specifically high dais.n. Hence Any similar raised portion of the floor of an apartment, used as the place at which the most distinguished guests at a feast are seated, as a platform for a lecturer, etc.n. A canopy or covering.n. A long board, seat, or settle erected against a wall, and sometimes so constructed as to serve for both a settee and a table; also, a seat on the outer side of a country-house or cottage, frequently formed of turf.n. A pew in a church.