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

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

Whatever he’s suffering from, thank goodness the Grand Maester was around to reject the maester intern’s herbal poultice in favor of another leeching.

From New York Times ● Sep. 18, 2022

She suggests making a violet leaf infusion or poultice for soothing an eye irritation or injury.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2021

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

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2017

You could make a poultice out of mud to cool a fever.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

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

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From Time Magazine Archive

The foot should now be placed in a warm bath for half an hour or longer and then poulticed.

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

Then the whole country is solemnly soaked and poulticed with the gray, streaming clouds and fogs, night and day, with marvelous constancy.

From Steep Trails California, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, the Grand Canyon by Muir, John

Then her mother, the biggest brother, and Eagle Eye poulticed the throbbing chest, put compresses on the silky neck, and poured one hot drink after another down the reluctant throat of the blue mare.

From The Biography of a Prairie Girl by Gates, Eleanor

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

No poulticing is needed when this is well done.

From Papers on Health by Kirk, Edward Bruce

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 Kirk, Edward Bruce

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 Burroughs, Barkham