holster

[ hohl-ster ]

/ ˈhoʊl stər /

noun

a sheathlike carrying case for a firearm, attached to a belt, shoulder sling, or saddle.

verb (used with object)

to put or put back in a holster: to holster a gun.

Nearby words

holpen, hols, holst, holst, gustav, holstein, holster, holston, holt, holt, harold edward, holter monitor, holthouse's hernia

Origin of holster

1655–65; < Dutch; cognate with Gothic hulistr, Old Norse hulstr sheath; akin to Old English helan to hide

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for holster

I took off the sheath, the holster, so to speak, of the taser and I loaded the taser.
L.A. Riots Anniversary: Stacey Koon’s Disturbing Testimony|Christine Pelisek|April 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST
If Bush was too quick to pull the trigger, Obama is reluctant ever to pull the gun out of its holster.
Apocalypse When?|Lee Siegel|August 28, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Every government in Delhi keeps a thermometer in its holster and calibrates its decibel levels according to ground temperature.
Mumbai's Dangerous Amnesia|M.J. Akbar|November 25, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The man started to walk menacingly toward my partner, who then reached into his holster for his Smith & Wesson .38.
What a Cop Is Supposed to Do|John Connolly|July 26, 2009|DAILY BEAST

All I know is that holster and belt came tumbling down as I sprang and caught at the Colt handle.
The Prairie Child|Arthur Stringer
Guevara looked at the officer, looked at the capable hand on the cocked gun in the holster.
The Flaming Mountain|Harold Leland Goodwin
He had thrust the holster of pistols into them, but he took it out now, and hung it in its own place, also across the saddle.
The Guns of Shiloh|Joseph A. Altsheler
He felt the knife leave his holster, there was a pause, then Jerran said under her breath, "Blast this horse—ugh—got it!"
The Buttoned Sky|Geoff St. Reynard
At this Donnegan's protector shifted his belt so that the holster came a little more forward on his thigh.
Gunman's Reckoning|Max Brand

British Dictionary definitions for holster

holster

/ (ˈhəʊlstə) /

noun

a sheathlike leather case for a pistol, attached to a belt or saddle

mountaineering a similar case for an ice axe or piton hammer

Derived Formsholstered, adjective

Word Origin for holster

C17: via Dutch holster from Germanic; compare Old Norse hulstr sheath, Old English heolstor darkness, Gothic hulistr cover

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 holster (1 of 2)

holster

"leather case for a pistol," 1660s, probably from Old English heolster, earlier helustr "concealment, hiding place," from Proto-Germanic *hulfti- (cf. Old High German hulft "cover, case, sheath," Old Norse hulstr "case, sheath," Middle Dutch holster, German Holfster "holster"), from PIE *kel- "to cover, to hide" (see cell). Intermediate forms are wanting, and the modern word could as well be from the Norse or Dutch cognates.

Word Origin and History for holster (1 of 2)

holster

by 1902, from holster (n.). Related: Holstered; holstering.