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Bolster

//ˈboʊlstɚ// name, noun, verb

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname from German. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A ghost town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States. countable, uncountable
Noun
  1. 1
    A large cushion or pillow, usually cylindrical in shape.

    "And here I'll fling the pillow, there the bolster, / This way the coverlet, another way the sheets."

  2. 2
    a pillow that is often put across a bed underneath the regular pillows wordnet
  3. 3
    A pad, quilt, or anything used to hinder pressure, support part of the body, or make a bandage sit easy upon a wounded part; a compress.

    "This Arm ſhall be a Bolſter for thy Head, / I'll fetch clean Straw to make my Soldier's Bed; / There, while thou ſleep'ſt, my Apron o'er thee hold, / Or with it patch thy Tent againſt the Cold."

  4. 4
    A small spacer located on top of the axle of horse-drawn wagons that gives the front wheels enough clearance to turn.
  5. 5
    A short, horizontal structural timber between a post and a beam for enlarging the bearing area of the post and/or reducing the span of the beam.
Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    A beam in the middle of a railway truck, supporting the body of the car.
  2. 7
    The perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched.
  3. 8
    The part of a knife blade that abuts upon the end of the handle.
  4. 9
    The metallic end of a pocketknife handle.
  5. 10
    The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital.

    "Its [the Ionic's column's] ancient capital is generally formed of two parallel bolsters"

  6. 11
    A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation. historical
  7. 12
    That which supports or promotes; a catalyst. figuratively

    "My health too has been better since you took away that Montero cap. I have left off cayenned eggs and such bolsters to discomfort."

  8. 13
    A wide-bladed cold chisel designed to split and shape bricks.
Verb
  1. 1
    To brace, reinforce, secure, or support. figuratively, often, transitive

    "Puget also teamed up with Matt Hyde (Deftones, Slayer) to co-produce the record, which was another smart move: Together, the pair ensures that AFI (The Blood Album)'s arrangements are streamlined, but bolstered by just the right amount of atmospheric texture."

  2. 2
    support and strengthen wordnet
  3. 3
    add padding to wordnet
  4. 4
    prop up with a pillow or bolster wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English bolster, bolstre, from Old English bolster (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *bolstr, from Proto-Germanic *bulstraz (“pillow, cushion”). Cognate with Scots bowster (“bolster”), West Frisian bulster (“mattress”), Dutch bolster (“husk, shell”), German Polster (“bolster, pillow, pad”), Swedish bolster (“soft mattress, bolster”), Icelandic bólstur (“pillow”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English bolster, bolstre, from Old English bolster (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *bolstr, from Proto-Germanic *bulstraz (“pillow, cushion”). Cognate with Scots bowster (“bolster”), West Frisian bulster (“mattress”), Dutch bolster (“husk, shell”), German Polster (“bolster, pillow, pad”), Swedish bolster (“soft mattress, bolster”), Icelandic bólstur (“pillow”).

Etymology 3

Variant of German Polster.

See also for "bolster"

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