1.A long pillow or cushion, used to support the head of a person lying on a bed; generally laid under the pillows. "And here I'll fling the pillow, there the bolster, This way the coverlet, another way the sheets."
2.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. "This arm shall be a bolster for thy head."
3.Anything arranged to act as a support, as in various forms of mechanism, etc.
4.(Saddlery) A cushioned or a piece part of a saddle.
6.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.
7.A transverse bar above the axle of a wagon, on which the bed or body rests.
8.The crossbeam forming the bearing piece of the body of a railway car; the central and principal cross beam of a car truck.
9.(Mech.) The perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched.
11.(Arch.) The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital.
12.(Mil.) A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation.
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