poultice

American  

[pohl-tis] / ˈpoʊl tɪs /

noun

1. a soft, moist mass of cloth, bread, meal, herbs, etc., applied hot as a medicament to the body.

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verb (used with object)

poulticed, poulticing

1. to apply a poultice to.

poultice British  

/ ˈpəʊltɪs /

noun

1. Also called: cataplasm.  med a local moist and often heated application for the skin consisting of substances such as kaolin, linseed, or mustard, used to improve the circulation, treat inflamed areas, etc

2. slang a large sum of money, esp a debt

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Other Word Forms

• unpoulticed
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of poultice

1535–45; earlier pultes, plural (taken as singular) of Latin puls (stem pult- ) thick pap. See pulse ²

Explanation

The next time you have a cut or an infection, maybe you should put some cereal on it. A poultice is a soft material — often cereal-like — used for healing. Think of a poultice as a mushy, sticky bandage. If you have a wound, infection, rash, or inflammation, you will probably cover it with a bandage or apply medicine to it: a poultice may accomplish both at once. Used in many cultures, a poultice may be mixed with medicine or heated. It can be made of clay, porridge, or even bread! Not surprisingly, the word poultice can be traced to the Latin route puls, meaning “porridge” or "a warm cereal.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

poultice poulticed poulticing

I was a middle-class kid from New Jersey, but like a poultice, this ancient, colonized country drew out an answering difference from my bones.

From Salon ● May 27, 2024

Dampen the stone, apply the poultice a half-inch thick, then cover it with plastic and tape down the edges.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 29, 2022

Benrejdal later returned and applied a make-shift poultice of takeaway leftovers to the arm.

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2017

Use it to make a strong cup of tea and perhaps, with the bedsheets, a soothing poultice.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 9, 2016

I wiped the poultice off my foot with a snotty hanky.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

With great technical brilliance, they poulticed inflamed crises again & again with the salve of compromise.

From Time Magazine Archive

The sting was poulticed later by inviting the defendant to attend Texas City's fair next week.

From Time Magazine Archive

When the nature of these swellings was not understood, they used to be poulticed, and to be opened with a lancet to let out their contents.

From The Mother's Manual of Children's Diseases by Charles West

The foot must now be poulticed for one or two days and afterwards dressed with a compress of oakum saturated with carbolic-acid solution or other antiseptic dressing.

From Special Report on Diseases of the Horse by Charles B. Michener

She looked as dignified as her poulticed face would allow.

From The Pot of Gold And Other Stories by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

I don’t possess the patience for 10 days of poulticing the patio, so I turned to Iron Out, a plant-safe liquid containing oxalic acid.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 29, 2022

If the New Deal party could be cured of its sickness through adroit poulticing, Jimmy Byrnes was the ideal physician.

From Time Magazine Archive

A teaspoonful of tincture of Guaiacum may be given before each poulticing, which may be done twice a day for an hour.

From Papers on Health by Edward Bruce Kirk

The spinal rubbing and poulticing with bran will also be effective for this.

From Papers on Health by Edward Bruce Kirk

Where the trouble has lasted for years, it may be slow to heal, and the poulticing may be done only once a week.

From Papers on Health by Edward Bruce Kirk