holster
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of holster
1655–65; < Dutch; cognate with Gothic hulistr, Old Norse hulstr sheath; akin to Old English helan to hide
Explanation
The noun holster looks like holder and that's exactly what it is. Some holsters hold a single item, like a gun, and others are more like tool belts, holding many small items. The o in holster is long, so pronounce it like this: "HOLE-ster." Originally, the word described something very specific — a leather case for a pistol. It probably comes from the Old English word heolster (earlier helustr), which means "concealment, hiding place." Today, holsters may hide what they hold, but they always keep things handy.
Vocabulary lists containing holster
Ghost Boys
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"Just Lather, That's All" and "The Woman Who Was Death"
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Elijah of Buxton
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
On display here is a circa 1770 officer’s holster pistol, owned by Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
The masked assailant’s gun holster, slung between his legs, is what law enforcement terms a universal fit holster and is ill-fitted for a much larger gun.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026
The officer then calmly put his gun back in his holster and walked toward the car, which had crashed into another car down the street.
From Slate ● Jan. 7, 2026
During an altercation on a Palestinian farmer's land in January 2023, Moshe Sharvit says Gil Alexander tried to seize his firearm from its holster.
From BBC ● May 11, 2025
He settled his hat on his head and shifted his holster.
From "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech
The streamer teased Turner’s Croft costume earlier this year, sharing a still of the actor in a fitted dark green tank, shorts and round sunglasses with gun holsters on her legs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
The agents wore balaclavas partially covering their faces, he says, and some carried rifles while others had handguns in their holsters.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2026
Living in Oklahoma, I’m used to seeing crossed-gun Second Amendment bumper stickers on the backs of trucks and gun holsters displayed proudly on people’s waists.
From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2024
ATK was acquiring a series of firms that manufactured optics, holsters, combat vests and other accessories that appealed to owners of AR-15s, many of whom wanted to emulate U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 12, 2023
Four men stand in our entryway, all dressed in khaki pants with small holsters at their belts and tiny revolvers that don’t look real.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
