bolster
verb
- cause a (small) increase in, strengthen
noun
- long narrow pillow or cushion
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈbɒlstə/ / /ˈbəʊlstə/ / [ˈbɒʊlstə]
name
Etymology: Variant of German Polster.
- A surname from German.
- A ghost town in Okanogan County, Washington, United States.
noun
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”).
- 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.”
“["]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.”
- 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.”
- A small spacer located on top of the axle of horse-drawn wagons that gives the front wheels enough clearance to turn.
- 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.
- A beam in the middle of a railway truck, supporting the body of the car.
- The perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched.
- The part of a knife blade that abuts upon the end of the handle.
- The metallic end of a pocketknife handle.
- 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”
- A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation.
- That which supports or promotes; a catalyst.
“My health too has been better since you took away that Montero cap. I have left off cayenned eggs and such bolsters to discomfort.”
- A wide-bladed cold chisel designed to split and shape bricks.
verb
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”).
- To brace, reinforce, secure, or support.
“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.”
“However, once the bi-modes come on stream this [the power supply] will need to be bolstered by a feed at Braybrooke, just south of Market Harborough, for which reason the Department for Transport has supported the extension of overhead electrification from Kettering to Market Harborough.”