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

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Etymology

Origin of poultice

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

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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

After researchers saw Rakus applying the plant poultice to his face, the wound closed up and healed in a month.

From BBC ● May 2, 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

If the stains look lighter but aren’t gone, repeat the poultice procedure.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2022

Its warm lucence promised a poultice against illness and a wall against insult.

From "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck

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

He is poulticed with beef and bread and admonished with the wise sayings of the three Williams continuously.

From The Outcaste by F. E. Penny

The limbs may be poulticed above the fetlocks with mustard.

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

Henrietta Dansie, nurse, was examined, and said that deceased had been suffering from boils on his right arm, one of which she had poulticed on Wednesday, the day before he had examined the diseased animal.

From On the cattle plague: or, Contagious typhus in horned cattle. Its history, origin, description, and treatment by Honor? Bourguignon

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

When a bunion is forming it may be stopped by poulticing and carefully opening it with a lancet.

From Burroughs' Encyclopaedia of Astounding Facts and Useful Information, 1889 by Barkham Burroughs

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

From Papers on Health by Edward Bruce Kirk

Felix colored perceptibly, but immediately rallied, and said the poulticing had given it that appearance.

From The Boy Broker Or, Among the Kings of Wall Street by Frank Andrew Munsey

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