BOLSTER

noun anything used to prevent chafing.

2. bolster ·vt to support with a bolster or pillow.

3. bolster ·noun a cushioned or a piece part of a saddle.

4. bolster ·noun the metallic end of a pocketknife handle.

5. bolster ·noun the rolls forming the ends or sides of the ionic capital.

6. bolster ·noun that part of a knife blade which abuts upon the end of the handle.

7. bolster ·noun a transverse bar above the axle of a wagon, on which the bed or body rests.

8. bolster ·noun anything arranged to act as a support, as in various forms of mechanism, ·etc.

9. bolster ·vt to support, hold up, or maintain with difficulty or unusual effort;

— often with up.

10. bolster ·noun the perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched.

11. bolster ·noun a long pillow or cushion, used to support the head of a person lying on a bed;

— generally laid under the pillows.

12. bolster ·noun a block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation.

13. bolster ·noun the crossbeam forming the bearing piece of the body of a railway car; the central and principal cross beam of a car truck.

14. bolster ·noun 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.

15. bolster ·noun 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.

xvi. bolster ·noun 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.