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

In that case, Forguson recommends applying a broad-spectrum poultice.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2022

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

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2017

“It is just as well,” she thought ruefully, as she worked a fresh coat of Miss Mortimer’s poultice into her hair.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

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 rubbed, he bathed, he poulticed, he badgered the doctor and cursed his inability to do some good.

From At the Foot of the Rainbow by Stratton-Porter, Gene

He said, "I poulticed my shoulders for three weeks, and they began to get soft, so I stopped doing it."

From Papers on Health by Kirk, Edward Bruce

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

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

Rub the back of the head and neck with hot olive oil before and after poulticing, and dry well.

From Papers on Health by Kirk, Edward Bruce

Sixteen hours after I arrived, everything having been done in the meantime that had ever been heard of by the parents, even to poulticing the wound with entrails of a black chicken.

From New, Old, and Forgotten Remedies: Papers by Many Writers by Anshutz, Edward Pollock

Without expansion there is no possibility of relief; local bleeding, poulticing, and all the drastic drugs of the veterinary will be invoked in vain.

From Rational Horse-Shoeing by Russell, John E.