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Bolster vs Assist - What's the difference?

bolster | assist |

As nouns the difference between bolster and assist

is that bolster is a large cushion or pillow while assist is a helpful action or an act of giving.

As verbs the difference between bolster and assist

is that bolster is to brace, reinforce, secure, or support while assist is (label) to stand (at a place) or to (an opinion).

bolster

English

Alternative forms

* * (Scotland)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A large cushion or pillow.
  • * Shakespeare
    • And here I'll fling the pillow, there the bolster , / This way the coverlet, another way the sheets.
  • 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.
  • * John Gay
    • This arm shall be a bolster for thy head.
  • A small spacer located on top of the axle of horse-drawn wagons which give the front wheels enough clearance to turn.
  • 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. Sometimes also called a pillow or cross-head (Australian English).
  • The perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched.
  • The part of a knife blade that abuts upon the end of the handle.
  • The metallic end of a pocketknife handle.
  • (label) The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital.
  • A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation.

    • Synonyms

    * Dutch wife

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To brace, reinforce, secure, or support.

    • Anagrams

    * ----

    assist

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (label) To stand (at a place) or to (an opinion).
    • A great part of the nobility assisted to his opinion.
  • (label) To attend
  • * 1967 , The Rev. Loren Gavitt (ed.), Saint Augustine's Prayer Book: A Book of Devotion for members of the Episcopal Church , revised edition, West Park, NY: Holy Cross Publications, p. 8:
    • To assist at Mass every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation.
  • To help.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=April 15 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=The referee seemed well placed to award the goal, but video evidence suggested the protests were well founded and the incident only strengthens the case of those lobbying for technology to assist officials.}}
  • (sports) To make a pass that leads directly towards scoring.

    • Derived terms

    * assister * assistive

    Related terms

    * assistant * assistance

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A helpful action or an act of giving.
    • The foundation gave a much needed assist to the shelter.
  • (sports) A statistic used in different sports to quantify the act of helping another player score points or goals; in baseball, an assist is defensive, allowing a teammate to record a putout.
    • He had two assists in the game.

    Derived terms

    * assistful * assistless

    Anagrams

    * ----