bolster
a long, often cylindrical, cushion or pillow for a bed, sofa, etc.
anything resembling this in form or in use as a support.
any pillow, cushion, or pad.
Nautical.
Also called bolster plate . a circular casting on the side of a vessel, through which an anchor chain passes.
a timber used as a temporary support.
a beam for holding lines or rigging without chafing.
a bag filled with buoyant material, fitted into a small boat.
Metalworking. an anvillike support for the lower die of a drop forge.
Masonry.
a timber or the like connecting two ribs of a centering.
a chisel with a blade splayed toward the edge, used for cutting bricks.
Carpentry. a horizontal timber on a post for lessening the free span of a beam.
a structural member on which one end of a bridge truss rests.
to support with or as with a pillow or cushion.
to add to, support, strengthen, or uphold (sometimes followed by up): They bolstered their morale by singing. He bolstered up his claim with new evidence.
Origin of bolster
1synonym study For bolster
Other words for bolster
Other words from bolster
- bol·ster·er, noun
- un·bol·ster, verb (used with object)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use bolster in a sentence
Corporations are bolstering profits by underpaying workers at the very bottom.
These are groups that take advantage,” he said, making it clear they are “bolstering the neo-Nazi right.
Is it regime change or bolstering a political process in Geneva?
Both Bachmann and Pawlenty should have to answer for bolstering that respectability.
In the Episcopal church a nurse is bolstering up a wounded officer in the area behind the altar.
The Boys of '61 | Charles Carleton Coffin.
This, Braceway knew, was why she had advanced him money, bolstering up one mistake with another.
The Winning Clue | James Hay, Jr.She was asking Petrarch to do her an inestimable service by bolstering up her third-rate university.
Giovanni Boccaccio, a Biographical Study | Edward HuttonBut the Noelites were far too vitiated in taste to be long content with mere bolstering or harmless games.
St. Winifred's | Frederic W. Farrar"At present she's bolstering up two or three dozen people who are only received on the strength of her name," Oakleigh replied.
Lady Lilith | Stephen McKenna
British Dictionary definitions for bolster
/ (ˈbəʊlstə) /
(often foll by up) to support or reinforce; strengthen: to bolster morale
to prop up with a pillow or cushion
to add padding to: to bolster a dress
a long narrow pillow or cushion
any pad or padded support
architect a short horizontal length of timber fixed to the top of a post to increase the bearing area and reduce the span of the supported beam
a cold chisel having a broad blade splayed towards the cutting edge, used for cutting stone slabs, etc
Origin of bolster
1Derived forms of bolster
- bolsterer, noun
- bolstering, noun, adjective
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
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