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Webster 1913 Edition

Bolster

Bol′ster

(bōl′stẽr; 110)
,
Noun.
[AS.
bolster
; akin to Icel.
bōlstr
, Sw. & Dan.
bolster
, OHG.
bolstar
,
polstar
, G.
polster
; from the same root as E.
bole
stem,
bowl
hollow vessel. Cf.
Bulge
,
Poltroon
.]
1.
A long pillow or cushion, used to support the head of a person lying on a bed; – generally laid under the pillows.
And here I’ll fling the pillow, there the
bolster
,
This way the coverlet, another way the sheets.
Shakespeare
2.
A pad, quilt, or anything used to hinder pressure, support any 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.
Gay.
3.
Anything arranged to act as a support, as in various forms of mechanism, etc.
4.
(Saddlery)
A cushioned or a piece part of a saddle.
5.
(Naut.)
(a)
A cushioned or a piece of soft wood covered with tarred canvas, placed on the trestletrees and against the mast, for the collars of the shrouds to rest on, to prevent chafing.
(b)
Anything used to prevent chafing.
6.
A plate of iron or a mass of wood under the end of a bridge girder, to keep the girder from resting directly on the abutment.
7.
A transverse bar above the axle of a wagon, on which the bed or body rests.
8.
The crossbeam forming the bearing piece of the body of a railway car; the central and principal cross beam of a car truck.
9.
(Mech.)
the perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched.
10.
(Cutlery)
(a)
That part of a knife blade which abuts upon the end of the handle.
(b)
The metallic end of a pocketknife handle.
G. Francis.
11.
(Arch.)
The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital.
G. Francis.
12.
(Mil.)
A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation.
[See Illust. of
Gun carriage
.]
Bolster work
(Arch.)
,
members which are bellied or curved outward like cushions, as in friezes of certain classical styles.

Bol′ster

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Bolstered
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Bolstering
.]
1.
To support with a bolster or pillow.
S. Sharp.
2.
To support, hold up, or maintain with difficulty or unusual effort; – often with up.
To
bolster
baseness.
Drayton.
Shoddy inventions designed to
bolster
up a factitious pride.
Compton Reade.

Webster 1828 Edition

Bolster

BOLSTER

, n.
1.
A long pillow or cushion,used to support the head of persons lying on a bed; generally laid under the pillows.
2.
A pad, or quilt,used to hinder pressure,support any part of the body, or make a bandage sit easy upon a wounded part a compress.
3.
In sadlery, a part of a saddle raised upon the bows or hinder part, to hold the rider's thigh.
4.
In ships, a cushion or bag, filled with tarred canvas,used to preserve the stays from being worn or chafed by the masts.

BOLSTER

,
Verb.
T.
To support with a bolster, pillow or any soft pad or quilt.
1.
To support; to hold up; to maintain.
2.
To afford a bed to.

Definition 2024

bolster

bolster

English

A bolster on a bed.

Alternative forms

  • boulster
  • bowster, bouster, boster (Scotland)

Noun

Bolster or pillow (structural) (geograph.org.uk - 325191)

bolster ‎(plural bolsters)

  1. A large cushion or pillow.
  2. 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.
    • John Gay
      This arm shall be a bolster for thy head.
  3. (vehicles, agriculture) A small spacer located on top of the axle of horse-drawn wagons which give the front wheels enough clearance to turn.
  4. 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. Sometimes also called a pillow or cross-head (Australian English).
  5. The perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched.
  6. The part of a knife blade that abuts upon the end of the handle.
  7. The metallic end of a pocketknife handle.
  8. (architecture) The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of G. Francis to this entry?)
  9. (military, historical) A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation.

Synonyms

Translations

Verb

bolster ‎(third-person singular simple present bolsters, present participle bolstering, simple past and past participle bolstered)

  1. To brace, reinforce, secure, or support.

Translations

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bulstraz.

Noun

bolster m ‎(plural bolsters, diminutive bolstertje n)

  1. a bur, a spiny cupule, often of a chestnut

Derived terms

  • bolsteren

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish bulster, bolster, from Old Norse bólstr, bulstr, from Proto-Germanic *bulstraz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- ‎(“bag, pillow, paunch”). Compare Icelandic bólstur, Dutch bolster, German Polster and English bolster.

Noun

bolster n

  1. a bolster, a large cushion or pillow

Declension

Inflection of bolster 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative bolster bolstret bolster bolstren
Genitive bolsters bolstrets bolsters bolstrens

Etymology

From Middle English bolstre, from Old English bolster ‎(“bolster, cushion”), from Proto-Germanic *bulstraz, *bulstrą ‎(“bolster”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- ‎(“bag, pillow, paunch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‎(“to swell, blow, inflate, burst”). 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”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbəʊlstə/

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