bolster
Definitions
General English
- verb to make something better or stronger
Cars & Driving
- noun a supporting pad, e.g. in a seat or seat back, or a load-supporting beam in a commercial vehicle
Construction
- In concrete, an individual or continuous support used to hold reinforcing bars in position. Usually used in slab work.
- A short wood or steel member positioned horizontally on top of a column to support beams or girders.
- A mason's blocking chisel.
- A piece of wood, generally a nominal 4" in cross section, placed between stickered packages of lumber or other wood products to provide space for the entry and exit of the forks of a lift truck.
Real Estate
- noun a long firm cylindrical pillow placed under other pillows to support them
- noun a short horizontal timber positioned between the top of a post and the beam it supports, to spread the load of the post
Travel
- noun a long thick pillow, which is as wide as a double bed
- noun a thick round part of a knife, linking the blade to the handle
Origin & History of “bolster”
The idea underlying bolster ‘long pillow’ is of something stuffed, so that it swells up. It comes from a prehistoric Germanic *bolstraz, which was a derivative of *bolg-, *bulg- (source also of bellows, belly, billow and possibly bell, bellow, and bold). German has the related polster ‘cushion, pillow’.
