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

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

We could also apply a poultice of whatever is around.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 9, 2020

When she wasn’t packing water, she was out digging prickly-pear roots and hammering them to mush in a sack, then binding the mush to my leg for a poultice.

From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson

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

"The gre't lamp's all full," said the Widder, warming her apron and pressing it to her poulticed face.

From Meadow Grass Tales of New England Life by Brown, Alice

An' you," she added, turning to her step-mother, "wid your cheeks poulticed, an' your eye blinkin' on the other side—what a pair o' beauties you are, ha! ha! ha!

From The Black Prophet: A Tale Of Irish Famine Traits And Stories Of The Irish Peasantry, The Works of William Carleton, Volume Three by Carleton, William

Every several days the parts are poulticed, the slough thus removed, and the ointment reapplied, and so on until the diseased tissue has been destroyed.

From Essentials of Diseases of the Skin Including the Syphilodermata Arranged in the Form of Questions and Answers Prepared Especially for Students of Medicine by Stelwagon, Henry Weightman

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

Then she opened the door a few inches, and said: "The Herr Doctor can't go out any more to-night; he has gone to bed, and is poulticing his foot."

From The Nameless Castle by Jókai, Mór

But little can be done in the way of treatment, save to hurry the ripening of the abscess and its discharge by steaming with hops, hay, or similar substances and by poulticing the throat.

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

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 Munsey, Frank Andrew