- (n.) Anything used to prevent chafing.
- (v.t.) To support, hold up or maintain with difficulty or unusual effort; -- often with up.
- (n.) A pad, quilt or anything used to hinder pressure, support any part of the body or make a bandage sit easy upon a wounded part; a compress.
- (n.) A long pillow or cushion, used to support the head of a person lying on a bed; -- generally laid under the pillows.
- (n.) The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital.
- (n.) A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation.
- (n.) A cushioned or a piece part of a saddle.
- (n.) That part of a knife blade which abuts upon the end of the handle.
- (v.t.) To support with a bolster or pillow.
- (n.) A cushioned or a piece of soft wood covered with tarred canvas, placed on the trestletrees and against the mast, for the collars of the shrouds to rest on, to prevent chafing.
- (n.) The metallic end of a pocketknife handle.
- (n.) A plate of iron or a mass of wood under the end of a bridge girder, to keep the girder from resting directly on the abutment.
- (n.) the perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched.
- (n.) A transverse bar above the axle of a wagon, on which the bed or body rests.
- (n.) The crossbeam forming the bearing piece of the body of a railway car; the central and principal cross beam of a car truck.
- (n.) Anything arranged to act as a support, as in various forms of mechanism, etc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
| APA | Webster's. (2011). bolster. Retrieved September 26, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/bolster/definitions/1981411 |
| Chicago | Webster's. 2011. "bolster" http://smartdefine.org/bolster/definitions/1981411 (accessed September 26, 2026). |
| Harvard | Webster's 2011, bolster, Smart Define, viewed 26 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/bolster/definitions/1981411>. |
| MLA | Webster's. "bolster" 27 May 2011. Web. 26 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/bolster/definitions/1981411> |