boulder

¹

or bowl·der

[ bohl-der ]

noun

1. a detached and rounded or worn rock, especially a large one.

Boulder

²

[ bohl-der ]

noun

1. a city in N Colorado.

boulder

/ ˈbəʊldə /

noun

1. 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
2. geology a rock fragment with a diameter greater than 256 mm and thus bigger than a cobble

Derived Forms

• ˈbouldery, adjective

Other Words From

• bouldered adjective
• boulder·y adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of boulder¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of boulder¹

C13: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish dialect bullersten , from Old Swedish bulder rumbling + sten stone

Example Sentences

They found that boulders in this area showed bright veins, narrow in width but about a meter in length, similar to what’s found in other carbonaceous chondritic meteorites that have landed on Earth.

From MIT Technology Review

When NASA’s OSIRIS-REx arrived at near-Earth asteroid Bennu, scientists were dismayed to find a surface covered with hazardous-looking boulders.

From Science News

She continues to boulder and sport-climb both at the gym and outdoors.

From Outside Online

The trail finishes with a bang, as hikers must scramble hand over foot to climb several massive boulders on their way to the mesa top, where the modern world and parking lot await.

From Outside Online

If you have trails or open space nearby, scaling small boulders works, too.

From Outside Online

[Tatum laughs] Like I found the three other artsy goth kids at Boulder and hung out with them.

From The Daily Beast

I did one semester at Boulder, which was more a stereotypical, American collegiate experience.

From The Daily Beast

But even at Boulder I found the artsy kids and hung out with them.

From The Daily Beast

Boulder was attractive because "it's beautiful and peaceful and people are nice—the opposite of New York—and my mother's there."

From The Daily Beast

Talia Eisenberg is a self-described former New York “party girl” who moved to Boulder Colorado to get healthy.

From The Daily Beast

On the opposite side of the stream, set back about thirty paces from the brink, stood a granite boulder.

From Project Gutenberg

At the far end we made a little fire and lay round it in the shadow of a big boulder.

From Project Gutenberg

Boulder beaches are so quick in answering to every slight change in the conditions which affect them that they seem almost alive.

From Project Gutenberg

The cutting is not altogether in the fixed material, for the boulder itself is also worn and scored in the work.

From Project Gutenberg

Here and there we will find a boulder perched on a pedestal of ice, which indicates a recent down-wearing of the field.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• hunk
• ingot
• lump
• piece
• plate
• rod
• slice
• stone
• strip
• wedge