bombasts

Noun

bombast (countable and uncountable, plural bombasts)

1. (archaic) Cotton, or cotton wool.
   • SURBATING; a Diſtemper in a Horſe, who is ſaid to be ſurbated, when the Sole is worn, bruiſed or ſpoiled by travelling without Shoes, or with ill ſhoeing: [...] take Frankincenſe, and rolling it in a little fine Cotton Wool or Bombaſt, with a hot Iron melt it into the Foot betwixt the Shoe and the...1725, [Noël] Chomel, “SURBATING”, in R[ichard] Bradley, editor, Dictionaire Oeconomique: Or, The Family Dictionary. […], volume II (I–Z), London: […] D[aniel] Midwinter, […], →OCLC, column 2

   Synonyms:

   fustian

2. (archaic) Cotton, or any soft, fibrous material, used as stuffing for garments; stuffing, padding.
   • [C]ertayne I am there was neuer any kinde of apparell euer inuented, that could more diſproportion the body of man, then theſe Dublettes with great bellies hanging downe beneath their Pudenda, (as I haue ſayd) & ſtuffed with foure, fiue, or ſixe pound of Bombaſt at the least: [...]1585, Phillip Stubbes [i.e., Philip Stubbs], The Anatomie of Abuses: Contayning a Discouerie, or Briefe Summarie of such Notable Vices and Imperfections, as now Raigne in Many Christian Countreyes of...
3. (figuratively) High-sounding words; language above the dignity of the occasion; a pompous or ostentatious manner of writing or speaking.
   • Bombaſt and Buffoonry, by Nature lofty and light, ſoar higheſt of all, [...]1704, [Jonathan Swift], “Section I. The Introduction.”, in A Tale of a Tub. […], London: […] John Nutt, […], →OCLC, page 40

   Synonyms:

   aureation, bombard phrase, fustian, grandiloquence, purple prose

See all 6 meanings of bombast