bolster
/ˈboʊlstɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.31 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
noun
A small spacer located on top of the axle of horse-drawn wagons that gives the front wheels enough clearance to turn.
noun
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.
noun
A beam in the middle of a railway truck, supporting the body of the car.
noun
The metallic end of a pocketknife handle.
Example Sentences
- "And here I'll fling the pillow, there the bolster, / This way the coverlet, another way the sheets."
- "["]Don't you know how [Joseph Mallord William] Turner spoils his pictures by introducing a man like a bolster in the foreground? Well, in actual life every landscape is spoilt by men of worse shapes still." / "You sound like a bolster with the stuffing out." They laughed."
- "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."
- "Its [the Ionic's column's] ancient capital is generally formed of two parallel bolsters"
- "My health too has been better since you took away that Montero cap. I have left off cayenned eggs and such bolsters to discomfort."
- "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."
Etymology
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈboʊlstɚ/
- British English: /ˈbɒlstə/