bowster

Noun

bolster (plural bolsters)

1. A large cushion or pillow, usually cylindrical in shape.
   • And here I'll fling the pillow, there the bolster, / This way the coverlet, another way the sheets.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

   Synonyms:

   Dutch wife, hotdog pillow

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.
   • This Arm ſhall be a Bolſter for thy Head, / I'll fetch clean Straw to make my Soldier's Bed; / There, while thou ſleep'ſt, my Apron o'er thee hold, / Or with it patch thy Tent againſt the Cold.[1715], [John] Gay, The What D’Ye Call It: A Tragi-comi-pastoral Farce, London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 11
3. 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:

   crosshead, 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.

See all 15 meanings of bolster