bolster

bol·ster

Use bolster in a sentence

A black and white striped bolster.

noun

The definition of a bolster is something that helps support weight.
An example of a bolster is a cross beam in a ceiling.
Bolster is defined as a long narrow cushion.
An example of a bolster is the cylinder shaped pillow that runs along the back of a couch.

verb

To bolster is to support or strengthen something.
An example of to bolster is to add another piece of wood to strengthen a bird house.
To bolster is to uplift.
An example of to bolster is lift someone’s spirits with a good speech.

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MLA Style

"bolster." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 12 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/BOLSTER>.

APA Style

bolster. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/BOLSTER

bolster

a long, narrow cushion or pillow
a soft pad for easing pressure on any part of the body
any bolsterlike object or support; specif.,
1. a capping piece over a post to extend the bearing area under a beam
2. the connecting part between the volutes of an Ionic capital

Origin of bolster

Middle English and OE, akin to Old Norse bolstr, German polster; ultimately from Indo-European base an unverified form bhel-, to swell: see ball

to prop up as with a bolster; support, strengthen, or reinforce

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"bolster." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 12 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/BOLSTER>.

APA Style

bolster. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/BOLSTER

bolster

noun

A long narrow pillow or cushion.

transitive verb

bol·stered, bol·ster·ing, bol·sters

To support or prop up with or as if with a long narrow pillow or cushion.
To buoy up or hearten: Visitors bolstered the patient's morale.

Origin of bolster

Middle English from Old English; see bhelgh- in Indo-European roots.

Related Forms:

bol′ster·er
noun

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"bolster." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 12 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/BOLSTER>.

APA Style

bolster. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/BOLSTER

Noun

(plural bolsters)

A large cushion or pillow.
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.
(vehicles, agriculture) A small spacer located on top of the axle of horse-drawn wagons which give 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. Sometimes also called a pillow or cross-head (Australian English).
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.
(architecture) The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital.
(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.

Verb

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

To brace, reinforce, secure, or support.

Origin

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”).