Bolster definition
To bolster is to uplift.
An example of to bolster is lift someone’s spirits with a good speech.
verb
To buoy up or hearten.
Visitors bolstered the patient's morale.
verb
To support or prop up with or as if with a long narrow pillow or cushion.
verb
The definition of a bolster is something that helps support weight.
An example of a bolster is a cross beam in a ceiling.
noun
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.
noun
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A long, narrow cushion or pillow.
noun
A soft pad for easing pressure on any part of the body.
noun
Any bolsterlike object or support.
- A capping piece over a post to extend the bearing area under a beam.
- The connecting part between the volutes of an Ionic capital.
noun
To prop up as with a bolster; support, strengthen, or reinforce.
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.
verb
A long narrow pillow or cushion.
noun
(vehicles, agriculture) A small spacer located on top of the axle of horse-drawn wagons which give 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. Sometimes also called a pillow or cross-head (Australian English).
noun
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(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.
noun
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Origin of bolster
- Middle English from Old English bhelgh- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- 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”).
From Wiktionary