boulder
or bowl·der
[ bohl-der ]
/ ˈboʊl dər /
noun
a detached and rounded or worn rock, especially a large one.
Nearby words
Origin of boulder
1610–20; short for boulder stone; Middle English bulderston < Scandinavian; compare dialectal Swedish bullersten big stone (in a stream), equivalent to buller rumbling noise (< Old Swedish bulder) + sten stone
Related formsboul·dered, adjectiveboul·der·y, adjective
Definition for boulder (2 of 2)
Boulder
[ bohl-der ]
/ ˈboʊl dər /
noun
a city in N Colorado.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for boulder
British Dictionary definitions for boulder
boulder
/ (ˈbəʊldə) /
noun
a smooth rounded mass of rock that has a diameter greater than 25cm and that has been shaped by erosion and transported by ice or water from its original position
geology a rock fragment with a diameter greater than 256 mm and thus bigger than a cobble
Derived Formsbouldery, adjective
Word Origin for boulder
C13: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish dialect bullersten, from Old Swedish bulder rumbling + sten stone
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for boulder
boulder
1670s, variant of Middle English bulder (c.1300), from a Scandinavian source akin to Swedish dialectal bullersten "noisy stone" (large stone in a stream, causing water to roar around it), from bullra "to roar" + sten "stone." Or the first element might be from *buller- "round object," from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE *bhel- (2) "to inflate, swell" (see bole).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper