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

Finally I pressed a poultice of certain herbs over the whole wound, using a trowel-like instrument to plaster it on.

From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep

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

When the nature of these swellings was not understood, they used to be poulticed, and to be opened with a lancet to let out their contents.

From The Mother's Manual of Children's Diseases by Charles West

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

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 John Muir

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

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 Edward Bruce Kirk

I found that the doctor had been fomenting its wounded lip with a strong infusion of tobacco, and afterwards poulticing it with the chopped leaves of the same plant.

From With Axe and Rifle by H. Meyer

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