Bolster

·noun Anything used to prevent chafing.

II. Bolster ·vt To support with a bolster or pillow.

III. Bolster ·noun A cushioned or a piece part of a saddle.

IV. Bolster ·noun The metallic end of a pocketknife handle.

V. Bolster ·noun The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital.

VI. Bolster ·noun That part of a knife blade which abuts upon the end of the handle.

VII. Bolster ·noun A transverse bar above the axle of a wagon, on which the bed or body rests.

VIII. Bolster ·noun Anything arranged to act as a support, as in various forms of mechanism, ·etc.

IX. Bolster ·vt To support, hold up, or maintain with difficulty or unusual effort;

— often with up.

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

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

— generally laid under the pillows.

XII. 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.

XIII. 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.

XIV. 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.

XV. 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.