bolster

Etymology

From Middle English bolster, bolstre, from Old English bolster (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *bolstr, from Proto-Germanic *bulstraz (“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”).

noun

1. A large cushion or 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.
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.
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.
   Its [the Ionic's column's] ancient capital is generally formed of two parallel bolsters 1826, Francesco Milizia, The Lives of Celebrated Architects Ancient and Modern
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.

verb

1. (transitive, often figurative) To 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. January 20, 2017, Annie Zaleski, “AFI sounds refreshed and rejuvenated on its 10th album, AFI (The Blood Album)”, in The Onion AV Club
   However, once the bi-modes come on stream this [the power supply] will need to be bolstered by a feed at Braybrooke, just south of Market Harborough, for which reason the Department for Transport has supported the extension of overhead electrification from Kettering to Market Harborough. 2019 October, Philip Sherratt, “Midland Main Line upgrade presses on”, in Modern Railways, page 62
   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. January 12 2022, Chris Hegg, “The secret railway in the woods”, in RAIL, number 948, page 36