different between holster vs bolster

English

Etymology

From Dutch holster (“pistol-case, holster”), from Middle Low German holster, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hulastr?, *hulistr? (“hull, case, covering”), cognate with Old English heolstor (“a covering, veil, hiding-place”), Danish hylster (“pistol case, envelope”), Icelandic hulstur (“sheath”), Gothic ???????????????????????????? (hulistr, “covering”). Compare German Halfter (“pistol case”). Related to hull, hele.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?h?lst?(?)/, /?ho?lst?(?)/

Noun

holster (plural holsters)

1. A case for carrying a tool, particularly a gun, safely and accessibly.
2. A belt with loops or slots for carrying small tools or other equipment.

Translations

Verb

holster (third-person singular simple present holsters, present participle holstering, simple past and past participle holstered)

1. To put something in a holster.

Derived terms

• reholster

Anagrams

• Holters, Hostler, hostler, orthels

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: hol?ster

Noun

holster m (plural holsters, diminutive holstertje n)

1. holster (leather case into which a gun fits snugly)

English

Alternative forms

• boulster
• bowster, bouster, boster (Scotland)

Etymology

From Middle English bolster, bolstre, from Old English bolster (“pillow”), from Proto-Germanic *bulstraz, *bulstr? (“pillow, cushion”). Cognate with Scots bowster (“bolster”), West Frisian bulster (“mattress”), Dutch bolster (“husk, shell”), German Polster (“bolster, pillow, pad”), Swedish bolster (“soft mattress, bolster”), Icelandic bólstur (“pillow”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?b??lst?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?bo?lst?/

Noun

bolster (plural bolsters)

1. A large cushion or pillow.
   • 1590–92, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, act 4, scene 1:

     And here I'll fling the pillow, there the bolster,
     This way the coverlet, another way the sheets.

   • 1907, E.M. Forster, The Longest Journey, Part I, VII [Uniform ed., p. 84]:

     "Don’t you know how Turner spoils his pictures by introducing a man like a bolster in the foreground? Well, in actual life every landscape is spoilt by men of worse shapes still.”

     “You sound like a bolster with the stuffing out.” They laughed.

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.
   • 1715, John Gay, The What D'Ye Call It?

     This arm shall be a bolster for thy head.

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.

   Synonyms: cross-head, pillow

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.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of G. Francis to this entry?)

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.

Synonyms

• Dutch wife

Translations

Verb

bolster (third-person singular simple present bolsters, present participle bolstering, simple past and past participle bolstered)

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

Translations

Anagrams

• Bortles, Strobel, Stroble, bolters, lobster, reblots, rebolts, trobles

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch bolster, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bulstraz. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?l.st?r/
• Hyphenation: bol?ster
• Rhymes: -?lst?r

Noun

bolster m (plural bolsters, diminutive bolstertje n)

1. a bur, a spiny cupule, often of a chestnut

Derived terms

• bolsteren
• ontbolsteren

Middle English

Alternative forms

• bolstre, bolstere, bowstur (northern)

Etymology

From Old English bolster, from Proto-Germanic *bulstraz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?lst?r/

Noun

bolster (plural bolsters)

1. A soft stuffed bag to lie or lean on; a cushion or pillow.
2. (rare) A pad; a piece of cushioning.
3. (rare) A supporting piece of metal.

Descendants

• English: bolster
• Scots: bowster, bouster, boster

References

• “bolster, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-09-14.

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *bulstraz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bol.ster/, [?bo?.ster]

Noun

bolster m

1. pillow

Declension

Synonyms

• pyle
• wangere

Derived terms

• bedbolster
• h?afodbolster
• hl?orbolster

Descendants

• Middle English: bolster, bolstre, bolstere, bowstur
  • English: bolster
  • Scots: bowster, bouster, boster

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish bulster, bolster, from Old Norse bólstr, bulstr, from Proto-Germanic *bulstraz, from Proto-Indo-European *b?el??- (“bag, pillow, paunch”). Compare Icelandic bólstur, Dutch bolster, German Polster and English bolster.

Noun

bolster n

1. a bolster, a large cushion or pillow

Declension