holster

[hohl-ster]

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.

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

Contemporary Examples of 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
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
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
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

Historical Examples of holster

For the gun Andy had his Colt in the holster, and he knew it like his own mind.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Thinking of this, he produced it from the holster with a flick of his fingers.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Then his right arm loosened, and the hand flashed down to his holster.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
How'll they know that it was luck—that my gun stuck in the holster—and that you jumped me on the draw?
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
The Federal's pistol slid into its holster and his sabre flashed out.
The Cavalier
George Washington Cable

British Dictionary definitions for holster

holster

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

"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.

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