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Bolster vs Delay - What's the difference?

bolster | delay |

As nouns the difference between bolster and delay

is that bolster is a large cushion or pillow while delay is a period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity.

As verbs the difference between bolster and delay

is that bolster is to brace, reinforce, secure, or support while delay is to put off until a later time; to defer.

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

    * ----

    delay

    English

    (wikipedia delay)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) . More at let (to hinder), late, leave.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To put off until a later time; to defer.
  • * Bible, (w) xxiv. 48
    • My lord delayeth his coming.
  • To retard; to stop, detain, or hinder, for a time.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=10 , passage=Mr. Cooke had had a sloop?yacht built at Far Harbor, the completion of which had been delayed , and which was but just delivered. […] The Maria had a cabin, which was finished in hard wood and yellow plush, and accommodations for keeping things cold.}}
  • (label) To allay; to temper.
  • * (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
    • The watery showers delay the raging wind.
    Usage notes
    * This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) . See
    Synonyms
    * See also * adjourn * defer * forslow * postpone * put off * put on ice * suspend

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity.
    • the delay before the echo of a sound
  • * Bible, Acts xxv. 17
    • Without any delay , on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat.
  • * Macaulay
    • The government ought to be settled without the delay of a day.

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To dilute, temper.
  • (obsolete) To assuage, quench, allay.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.12:
    • Those dreadfull flames she also found delayd / And quenched quite like a consumed torch […].

    External links

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    Anagrams

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