Definition of "bolster" in English

noun

1. A large cushion or pillow, usually cylindrical in shape.

2. A pad, quilt, or anything used to hinder pressure, support part of the body, or make a bandage sit easy upon a wounded part; a compress.

3. (vehicles, agriculture) A small spacer located on top of the axle of horse-drawn wagons that gives the front wheels enough clearance to turn.

4. A short, horizontal structural timber between a post and a beam for enlarging the bearing area of the post and/or reducing the span of the beam.

5. A beam in the middle of a railway truck, supporting the body of the car.

6. The perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched.

7. The part of a knife blade that abuts upon the end of the handle.

8. The metallic end of a pocketknife handle.

9. (architecture) The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital.

10. (military, historical) A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation.

11. (figurative) That which supports or promotes; a catalyst.

12. A wide-bladed cold chisel designed to split and shape bricks.

verb

1. (transitive, often figurative) To brace, reinforce, secure, or support.