poultice
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
-
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
-
slang a large sum of money, esp a debt
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing poultice
Romeo and Juliet
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Animal Farm
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The Pearl
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
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
She suggests making a violet leaf infusion or poultice for soothing an eye irritation or injury.
From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2021
Why had Miss Mortimer used the poultice to conceal her among the other Swanburne girls all those years?
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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 is now to be poulticed for a day or two, or until the lameness and suppuration have ceased.
From Special Report on Diseases of the Horse by Charles B. Michener
The action is usually sufficient in three days, and the parts are then poulticed until the slough comes away, after which a simple dressing is employed.
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 Henry Weightman Stelwagon
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 Henry Weightman Stelwagon
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
G. got eight bites on one hand, which is serious, and means poulticing.
From From Edinburgh to India & Burmah by W. G. (William Gordon) Burn Murdoch
The poor girl has been in the village all day, fomenting and poulticing old Mrs Barnes, and if it had been any girl but herself, she would have been tired out long before.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 53, No. 329, March, 1843 by Various
Blood poisoning which so often follows the careless poulticing, as well as the uncleanly opening of boils, can all be avoided.
From The Mother and Her Child by William S. Sadler
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