bole1
[bohl]
- the stem or trunk of a tree.
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Origin of bole1
bole2
[bohl]
- any of a variety of soft, unctuous clays of various colors, used as pigments.
- a medium red-brown color made from such clay.
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Also bolus.
Origin of bole2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
chunk, wood, piece, timber, stalk, stem, torso, mud, brick, earth, length, stick, trunk, block, bole, driftwood, log, column, butt, stockExamples from the Web for boles
Contemporary Examples
"A lot of the photos were taken at a club called The Colony," Boles explained.
Historical Examples
There was the dim bulk of a man disappearing through the boles.
David ElginbrodGeorge MacDonald
The forest was full of the boles of trees that had been blown down.
An American Robinson CrusoeSamuel. B. Allison
They were watching the tragic chase between the boles of the pines.
Master ReynardJane Fielding
Twenty years tell not on boles that have for centuries been in their prime.
The grass is as uniform as a carpet, and grows quite up to the boles of the trees.
RiverbyJohn Burroughs
bole1
- the trunk of a tree
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Word Origin
C14: from Old Norse bolr; related to Middle High German bole plank
bole2
bolus
- a reddish soft variety of clay used as a pigment
- a moderate reddish-brown colour
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Word Origin
C13: from Late Latin bōlus lump, from Greek bōlos
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for boles
bole
n.
early 14c., from Old Norse bolr "tree trunk," from Proto-Germanic *bulas (cf. Middle Dutch bolle "trunk of a tree"), from PIE *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (cf. Greek phyllon "leaf," phallos "swollen penis;" Latin flos "flower," florere "to blossom, flourish," folium "leaf;" Old Prussian balsinis "cushion;" Old Norse belgr "bag, bellows;" Old English bolla "pot, cup, bowl;" Old Irish bolgaim "I swell," blath "blossom, flower," bolach "pimple," bolg "bag;" Breton bolc'h "flax pod;" Serbian buljiti "to stare, be bug-eyed;" Serbo-Croatian blazina "pillow").
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper