Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use bolster in a sentence

39 example sentences · noun, verb

Bolster means a large cushion or pillow, usually cylindrical in shape. Example: “This ought to bolster up the case for intervention in the conflict.”

Examples of bolster by meaning

verbTo brace, reinforce, secure, or support.

  • Puget also teamed up with Matt Hyde (Deftones, Slayer) to co-produce the record, which was another smart move: Together, the pair ensures that AFI (The Blood Album)'s arrangements are streamlined, but bolstered by just the right amount of atmospheric texture.2017 January 20, Annie Zaleski, “AFI sounds refreshed and rejuvenated on its 10th album, AFI (The Blood Album)”, in The Onion AV Club
  • At the outbreak of the Second World War, the number of locomotives at the depot was bolstered by the loan of several tank engines from the GWR, usually fitted with the distinctive "balloon" spark arrestors.2022 January 12, Chris Hegg, “The secret railway in the woods”, in RAIL, number 948, page 36

More sentences with bolster

  • This ought to bolster up the case for intervention in the conflict.From the entry bolster up
  • Meanwhile, Japan must bolster its own defenses and substantially increase defense spending to meet new threats.2022 July 1, The Japan Times Editorial Board, “Groundbreaking NATO summit means work for Japan”, in The Japan Times, archived from the…. From the entry Tokyo
  • The paper, one hundred thousand dollars, bolstered by the current, went flying over the street.2004, Peter Plate, chapter 23, in Fogtown: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Seven Stories Press, →ISBN, page 156. From the entry Ulysses Grant
  • Bolstered claims of mustering a simple majority are an integral part of electionspeak.1999, India Today International, volume 24, page 276. From the entry electionspeak
  • Beside the window the enormous bed was made up, with ragged blankets and a coverless bolster.1949 June 8, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], “Chapter 4”, in Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, London: Secker & Warburg, →OCLC…. From the entry coverless
  • Twin bolsters are single bolsters permanently coupled, and double bolster wagons carry two bolsters apiece.1944 September and October, T. F. Cameron, “The Distribution of Rolling Stock”, in Railway Magazine, page 269. From the entry bolster wagon
  • Along the wainscot lie heaps of bolsters and quilts, covered with old-fashioned chintzes.1937, Robert Byron, “Saoma”, in The Road to Oxiana. From the entry vignette
  • This is attached with malleable braces to two big, heavy, solid oak bolsters.1912 February 7, “How to Save the Most Money on a Spreader [advertisement]”, in The Breeder’s Gazette, volume LXI, number 6, Chicago…. From the entry fifth wheel
  • This report examines the voluminous evidence bolstering these conclusions.2025, Christopher D. Cook, “Autopsy: How Democrats Lost the White House”, in RootsAction, archived from the original on 21 Feb 2026, page 4. From the entry gravely
  • In fact, daily life consists of little besides these kinds of microsupports that bolster broader social and cultural norms and tendencies.2016, Louisa Lombard, State of Rebellion, →ISBN. From the entry microsupport
  • We began with a set of 25 items designed to measure preferences for resisting through bolstering versus counterarguing.2004, Eric Knowles, Jay Linn, Resistance and Persuasion, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, →ISBN, page 96, →ISBN. From the entry counterargue
  • The bolstered gun hung on the door.1985, James Dillinger, chapter 25, in Adrenaline, Plume Books, page 120. From the entry uniform queen
  • Each version has a 12 x 20 inch bolster mounted in a 29 x 22 inch workpan, 14 inches deep.1969, Lester Gray French, Machinery - Volume 76, page 124. From the entry workpan
  • The faces of the axlebox and horn guides and the rubbing surfaces of the bolster are fitted with manganese steel liners.1962 December, “The B.R. standard diesel-electric Type 1 locomotive”, in Modern Railways, page 382. From the entry horn guide
  • Single bolsters are used in groups of up to five.1944 September and October, T. F. Cameron, “The Distribution of Rolling Stock”, in Railway Magazine, page 269. From the entry bolster wagon
  • In the past, they may even have passed into storage, ready to be dispatched to bolster routes to the coast, such as on summer Saturdays.2025 October 29, James Steward tells Joe Campbell, “Thriving on the stock exchange”, in RAIL, number 1047, page 44. From the entry cascade
  • The rule against oath-helping prohibits a party from presenting evidence solely for the purpose of bolstering a witness' credibility before that witness' credibility is attacked.2018 June 1, Frank Iacobucci, J., “R. v. B. (F.F.), 1 SCR 697”, in CanLII, retrieved 25 Feb 1993. From the entry oath-helping
  • God's providence to Debbie and me has certainly bolstered ours, so our prayer is that these stories will give a faith-lift as well.2013, David Stanford, "That's Not Odd … That's GOD!", WestBow Press, →ISBN, page xiii. From the entry faith-lift
  • The bolster to solebar weld on one side, and the weld between the solebar and the front headstock on the other side had broken completely.2001, A.P.Brights, N. Kirk, S. Manteghi and P.J. Murrell, edited by Brain S. Neale, Forensic engineering: the investigation of failures…. From the entry solebar
  • The bolsters can be seen outboard of the hawseholes, and the way they are cut away to permit the passage of the anchor-cables.1986, Jean Boudriot, The Seventy-four Gun Ship, page 59. From the entry hawsehole
  • The non-u father will bolster his carnation—on his hired morning coat—with a sprig of fern, and perhaps even carry a pair of grey gloves.1968 August 21, “U and Non-U Today: 2. Actions”, in New Society: The Social Science Weekly, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 267, column 2. From the entry u
  • The bogies, which have been specially designed to enable the vehicles to travel at express speeds have single bolster suspension and roller bearing axleboxes.1961 October, “Car carriage by rail - at home and abroad: 1. New B.R. "covered wagons"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 594. From the entry axlebox
  • But even as he pledges financial support, Trump has not ruled out intervening in primaries to bolster challengers against Republican officeholders he perceives as insufficiently loyal.2025 February 27, Steve Contorno and Sarah Ferris, “Trump plans to wield cash and endorsements to shape midterm elections”, in CNN. From the entry officeholder
  • But more likely, Daniels’s propensity for offering TMI — bolstered by easygoing quips that made the jury laugh — kept her basic story and her credibility intact.2024 May 7, Nicholas Kristof, “Conversations and insights about the moment.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN. From the entry TMI
  • Clarke's defence, bolstered by the return of Grant Hanley, was bamboozled by a flurry of Faroese raids, at least one of which should have delivered a goal.2021 October 12, Jamie Lyall, “Faroe Islands 0-1 Scotland”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 18 Nov 2021. From the entry bamboozle
  • Not something that Henry Ford probably would have done, but it again bolstered Musk's renegade reputation among his vast fan base, many of whom are also huge Roganites.2021 February 24, Matthew DeBord, “10 times Elon Musk proved Tesla doesn't need advertising”, in Business Insider, archived from the…. From the entry Roganite
  • Fiumian and Hungarian officials tried to bolster administrative separateness from the neighboring Croatian and Slovene countrysides by restricting the languages of trade and education to either Italian or Hungarian.2020, Dominique Kirchner Reill, The Fiume Crisis: Life in the Wake of the Habsburg Empire, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of…. From the entry Fiumian
  • “In the middle of a historic crisis like this, to bolster non-credible news sources while doubling down on his normal attacks is stunning to watch,” Zelizer added.2020 May 8, Oliver Darcy, “Meet OAN, the little-watched right-wing news channel that Trump keeps promoting”, in CNN. From the entry Zelizer
  • To try to bolster the abilities of the Ukrainian regular forces and reduce Kiev’s reliance on these quasilegal paramilitaries, the United States Army is training the Ukrainian national guard.2015 July 7, Andrew E. Kramer, “Islamic Battalions, Stocked With Chechens, Aid Ukraine in War With Rebels”, in New York Times. From the entry quasilegal
  • Uber, the ride-hailing service, said on Wednesday that it would bolster its processes for conducting background checks on drivers, aiming to enhance passenger safety amid growing scrutiny.2014 December 17, Mike Isaac, “Uber Pledges to Strengthen Background Checks for Drivers”, in Bits Blog, New York: The New York Times…. From the entry ridehailing
  • Canada and Ontario must bolster international trade with both the European Union and emerging economies like China in order shake our reputation as innovation laggards, says a new report.2010 September 21, Rita Trichur, “Expanded international trade key to driving innovation in Ontario: report”, in Toronto Star. From the entry laggard
  • So Mike felt he had to jump in boots and all with this new article, and he used his own non-Anglo heritage to bolster his point.2010, Peter Kocan, The Fable of All Our Lives, unnumbered page. From the entry boots and all
  • Are we to be crucified just to save the faces of our leaders or to bolster up the preposterous that India can be a single nation?1933, Choudhary Rahmat Ali et al., Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?. From the entry to death
  • The Great Western malleable fifth wheel and heavy oak bolsters are set back two feet under the box so the load is evenly balanced on all four wheels.1912 February 7, “How to Save the Most Money on a Spreader [advertisement]”, in The Breeder’s Gazette, volume LXI, number 6, Chicago…. From the entry fifth wheel
  • Ignoring international law, the Chinese have claimed sovereignty over most of the South China Sea and are embarked upon a massive land reclamation and construction program to bolster these claims.2015, Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America, Threshold Editions, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 222. From the entry South China Sea
  • Proper bud pruning, green harvests where whole clusters are dumped on the ground to bolster final berry concentration, as well as a myriad of intensive practices between budset and harvest.2009 March 14, Gord Stimmell, “Great value this week reflects industry's best”, in Toronto Star. From the entry budset
  • Forty-five years ago, a McGill University commerce student named Seymour Schulich was looking for a bird course to bolster his grades and came upon a prime candidate — business history.2006 March 13, Gordon Pitts, “Forward-looking CEOs are looking to the past”, in Globe and Mail, page B12. From the entry bird course

Meaning of bolster

  1. noun A large cushion or pillow, usually cylindrical in shape.
  2. noun 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.
  3. noun A small spacer located on top of the axle of horse-drawn wagons that gives the front wheels enough clearance to turn.

Full definition of bolster

Questions about bolster in a sentence

How do you use bolster in a sentence?
Bolster is used as a noun and verb. For example: “This ought to bolster up the case for intervention in the conflict.”
What is a short sentence with bolster?
“The bolstered gun hung on the door.”
What does bolster mean?
Bolster means a large cushion or pillow, usually cylindrical in shape.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bolster (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use bolster in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/bolster. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.