Split output of command by columns using Bash?

Question

I want to do this:

1. run a command
2. capture the output
3. select a line
4. select a column of that line

Just as an example, l

Answer 1

I think the simplest way is to use awk. Example:

$ echo "11383 pts/1    00:00:00 bash" | awk '{ print $4; }'
bash