The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Weaving) A count of forty threads in the warp or chain of
      woolen cloth. --Knight.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

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

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Bier
   the frame on which dead bodies were conveyed to the grave (Luke
   7:14).