bolster Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a pillow that is often put across a bed underneath the regular pillows
    long pillow.
  2. verb support and strengthen
    bolster up.
    • bolster morale
  3. verb prop up with a pillow or bolster
  4. verb add padding to
    pad.
    • pad the seat of the chair

WordNet

Bol"ster noun
Etymology
AS. bolster; akin to Icel. blstr, Sw. & Dan. bolster, OHG. bolstar, polstar, G. polster; from the same root as E. bole stem, bowl hollow vessel. Cf. Bulge, Poltroon.
Definitions
  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. Shak.
  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.
Bol"ster transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Bolstered ; present participle & verbal noun Bolstering
Definitions
  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 1913