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bolster
in a sentence

show 64 more with this conextual meaning
  • The idea of sleeping in the near open bolstered my sense of freedom.   (source)
    bolstered = supported and strengthened
  • You're ashamed of your son, so you want me to bolster your street cred.   (source)
    bolster = support and strengthen
  • I felt Claire's hand bolstering my arm, and leaned into her.   (source)
    bolstering = supporting
  • So I'd grabbed a book for myself and propped up a row of pillows for Mia to bolster her leg against, like she liked to at night.   (source)
    bolster = support
  • Joe was running on an adrenaline high, far beyond his normal level of endurance, and if not for the bolstering effect of panic, he might have collapsed before he topped the ridge.   (source)
    bolstering = supporting and strengthening
  • Alan stepped between them, bolstered by their apparent faith in him as mediator, and demanded that the two men open their palms.   (source)
    bolstered = supported and strengthened
  • …now that phenomenal existence is no more bolstered up by impressions from within or from without, we feel the need to lean on something that abides, something that will never play us false–a reality, an absolute and everlasting truth.   (source)
  • And invariably at the strong and tonic or protective sound of his voice Clyde stirring as with a bolstering force and finding himself able, and without shaking or quavering, to tell the short but straitened story of his youth.   (source)
    bolstering = supporting
  • We've all started to put down the virtues of the other factions in the process of bolstering our own.†   (source)
  • Dumbledore had said that the lessons were leading to something to do with the prophecy; Harry had felt bolstered, comforted, and now he felt slightly abandoned.†   (source)
  • "If you hadn't been out dallying all day you would know that"—her voice rose, bolstered, as if anger alone could keep tears at bay—"that I now have a funeral to pay for.†   (source)
  • Gudgeon bolstered his courage with a few deep breaths.†   (source)
  • It was not enough to see by, but it bolstered Eragon's confidence.†   (source)
  • Thus bolstered, Ruth confronted her mother: "If it bothers you so much, you take care of it."†   (source)
  • Something about the partnership with Root bolstered him.†   (source)
  • Cruise has brilliantly bolstered all the primitive thinking about mental illness, making it out to be a choice born of moral and spiritual weakness.†   (source)
  • The tension seemed to have drained away, Bellamy's mood visibly bolstered by his successful kill.†   (source)
  • He knew that in any popularity contest among English teachers, this latter argument which bolstered their authority would win overwhelming endorsement.†   (source)
  • Her faith in Allah was firm, bolstered by the serene thought that even if Allah did allow her to be blasted away by the Iraqi Air Force, there was no more glorious death than martyrdom in holy war.†   (source)
  • Ian Smith's white government was bolstered by the South African Defense Force, and the ANC regarded the battle in Zimbabwe as an extension of our struggle at home.†   (source)
  • But the feeling of the general public — bolstered by the press's focus on the "poverty-stricken" Catherine O'Leary and the "drunken" firefighters — wasn't sympathetic at all.†   (source)
  • I watched them leave, wishing I could feel whatever hope bolstered them, and wishing I could be alone with the computer for just a few seconds.†   (source)
  • Bolstered by Bree's cheerful assurance, I answer, "Well, maybe.†   (source)
  • His other arm bolstered Nurse Duckett, who was trembling and sobbing against him, too, her long, angular face dead white.†   (source)
  • Even though his range of movement was smaller and his voice far quieter than it had been, his health was bolstered by these new relationships.†   (source)
  • Their confidence was bolstered in large degree by distorted notions of their own strength.†   (source)
  • She brought theNew York Times up on her monitor and scanned the headlines while the faux caffeine bolstered her system.†   (source)
  • They drove home from the hospital with Grace carefully bolstered across the backseat of Robert's car.†   (source)
  • Tommen's rule is bolstered by all of the alliances that my lord father built so carefully, but soon enough she will destroy them, every one.†   (source)
  • Bolstered by this good fortune, Thomas thundered another challenge.†   (source)
  • But I am bolstered by Liv Crawford, whom I haven't actually seen in some time but whose daily contact with me is most regular, in the form of a different catered box dinner delivered each afternoon by her new assistant, Julie, a cheery, bouncy young woman whose talk and dress are uncannily like Liv's.†   (source)
  • His confidence was bolstered considerably, though he realized that Errtu would push the power of the runes to their absolute limits — and probably beyond.†   (source)
  • 'Shemma?' replied the startled man, instinctively reaching for his bolstered gun.†   (source)
  • It then occurred to me that what had further bolstered the kinship I felt for Sophie and Nathan during these nascent few days of our friendship had been our common passion for music.†   (source)
  • The girl lay against the rock, bolstered up by its support.†   (source)
  • This bolstered me through the third anniversary of the coronation, and it made me feel almost alive again.†   (source)
  • Because—you were always so good to Andy—bolstering him, improving his confidence.   (source)
  • So the Count could well appreciate why Andrey had decided to bolster his crew.   (source)
    bolster = support and strengthen
  • "Well," he said aloud, to bolster his courage, "there's no time to waste, so here goes."   (source)
    bolster = support or strengthen
  • He took her hand in his, gave it a bolstering squeeze.   (source)
    bolstering = supporting
  • Although she was bolstered up in her bed and could neither walk or stand, she was always calm.   (source)
    bolstered = supported
  • With a bolstering smile, Linda interrupted.   (source)
    bolstering = supporting
  • Each silent mile gave him more strength and, he imagined, bolstered her respect for him.   (source)
    bolstered = supported or strengthened
  • For the reading on the thermometer will not only govern the pace of advance, but will also determine the adequacy of supplies, and either bolster or betray the courage of one's men.   (source)
    bolster = support and strengthen
  • His hesitation bolstered Nasuada's flagging strength.†   (source)
  • Bolstered by the destruction of the locket they set to debating the possible locations of the other Horcruxes and even though they had discussed the matter so often before.†   (source)
  • Despite the carpenters' strike and all the work yet to be done, Burnham felt optimistic, his mood bolstered by the fine weather.†   (source)
  • From the other side of the camp, Saphira rushed to his side, bolstering him with her own reserves of energy.†   (source)
  • Adding several more memories to the mix, Saphira bolstered his efforts with the force of her own mind.†   (source)
  • Still, Eragon remained convinced that otherworldly forces influenced the world in mysterious ways, a belief that his exposure to the dwarves' religion had bolstered.†   (source)
  • An involuntary surge of emotion rushed through her, bolstering her with a sense of confidence and peace that she had not possessed since before Ajihad's death.†   (source)
  • Send Saphira and Eragon up with the mightiest spellcasters of my race bolstering their efforts, and you will disrupt the remainder of Galbatorix's scheme.†   (source)
  • Exhausted by his efforts, Eragon placed a hand over the belt of Beloth the Wise and bolstered his flagging strength with some of the energy he had stored within the twelve diamonds hidden inside the belt.†   (source)
  • Leo bolstered up a shaky voice with a clash of skates.†   (source)
  • I faced it without fear nor terror because my faith was strong in the Lord, a-bolstering and sustaining me.†   (source)
  • The vigilantes were bolstering up the craven Frenchy.†   (source)
  • And besides, had he not, from the beginning to end, bolstered it with false and evil pretenses?†   (source)
  • The guide watched Kiouni, who slept standing, bolstering himself against the trunk of a large tree.†   (source)
  • Nor was there anything to inspire greater reverence for suffering in his appearance; in its own way, this incident, too, bolstered Hans Castorp's impression that he was being exposed up here, against his will, to frivolous slovenliness, and, counter to all local custom, he hoped to offset this process by paying closer attention to those seriously ill and moribund.†   (source)
  • He shouldn't be artificially bolstered up with money, sent to these horrible tutoring schools, dragged through college….†   (source)
  • And Clyde, after a miserable night in his cell and much bolstering by Jephson and Belknap, determined to be as cool and insistent and innocent-appearing as he could be, but with no real heart for the job, so convinced was he that local sentiment in its entirety was against him—that he was believed to be guilty.†   (source)
  • Add to this the violence so often done to the conscience, the forced vocations, feudalism bolstered up by the cloister, the right of the first-born pouring the excess of the family into monasticism, the ferocities of which we have just spoken, the in pace, the closed mouths, the walled-up brains, so many unfortunate minds placed in the dungeon of eternal vows, the taking of the habit, the interment of living souls.†   (source)
  • So, bolstered by this mark of Government homage, the wonderful Bank and all the other wonderful undertakings went on and went up; and gapers came to Harley Street, Cavendish Square, only to look at the house where the golden wonder lived.†   (source)
  • For this is one of those disheartening instances where truth requires full as much bolstering as error.†   (source)
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  • Nathan would —main on the ground, remove the joystick and turn it to anual, and then carefully tie and bolster the chair, sec ring the pedals.†   (source)
  • The pale yellow bolster pillow is the ugliest thing I've ever seen, packaged on the ends like a big yellow hotdog.†   (source)
  • He had broken his back, someone said, but there was nothing anyone could do, and now men were stepping over him with their blankets and bolsters, and others were jostling to go up.†   (source)
  • It was Umbridge's lie that brought the blood surging into Harry's brain and obliterated his sense of caution — that the locket she had taken as a bribe from a petty criminal was being used to bolster her own pure-blood credentials.†   (source)
  • I made friends all right—with a bunch of kindergartners, which didn't really bolster my social standing with my peers.†   (source)
  • Each day, to bolster his spirits, his family reminded him of the future, the day he would stand unassisted, walk across the room.†   (source)
  • Two bolsters can be piled on top of each other.†   (source)
  • We put Alphie in the pram and pile around him the pot, the pan, the kettle, the jam jars and mugs, the Pope, two bolsters and the coats from the beds.†   (source)
  • It will flush every drop of rice wine from your body, remove the dependence and even bolster your failing liver.†   (source)
  • In the United States, many immigration experts have concluded that the only effective strategy for change is to bolster the economies of immigrant-sending countries.†   (source)
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  • A tour was necessary, Holmes pleaded, if only to bolster his own sense of honor and to demonstrate to Belknap that he really was a man of means and that Belknap's note was as secure an investment as any man could make.†   (source)
  • "Jace saw him die," she added, as if to bolster her claim.†   (source)
  • Fifty lashes isn't that many more than thirty,Roran thought, trying to bolster his courage.†   (source)
  • Perhaps, too, it would bolster his sagging pride.†   (source)
  • Many people use science to debunk religion, but Reverend Scheffler enlisted science to bolster his beliefs.†   (source)
  • Chief Scipio was looking for a way to bolster his résumé for an intended run for sheriff of DeKalb County.†   (source)
  • The man he'd never seen before and the knife was no homemade trucha ground out of a trenchspoon but an italian switchblade with black horn handles and nickle bolsters and he held it at waist level and passed it three times across Rawlins' shirt while Rawlins leaped three times backward with his shoulders hunched and his arms outflung like a man refereeing his own bloodletting.†   (source)
  • Microfinance has done more to bolster the status of women, and to protect them from abuse, than any laws could accomplish.†   (source)
  • It was often said that Fitzsimmons nearly ruined Seabiscuit by using him as a workmate for Granville, pulling him up during hot contests to bolster Granville's confidence.†   (source)
  • So often the material he had to work with was thin and paltry, and he had to patch something together with a few superlatives, cliches, and false notes of glory in order to commemorate the life, and bolster a sense of loss over the death.†   (source)
  • I knew Syracuse had been voted the seventh-best city to live in that year, and I pointedly stated that having men like Madison on the streets wouldn't bolster this reputation.†   (source)
  • Guests unable to sleep in their beds, and good bolsters ruined and all!†   (source)
  • Steel and wooden frames at three-foot intervals with thin lumpy straw ticks, bolsters, and three army blankets of army quality—no sheets unless you brought your own.†   (source)
  • He could repeat each word of the book in perfect order, but that did not bolster his confidence.†   (source)
  • She knew she was supposed to bolster him up, but did not know how to go about it.†   (source)
  • And a pair of bolster cushions.†   (source)
  • Like a pro, she used her handbag as an elbow bolster and she brought her feet up to the bench, one knee flat, the other under her chin.†   (source)
  • The French president, who'd followed Fortier s demands all too quickly, would probably do it himself to bolster his standing with the people.†   (source)
  • It won't exactly bolster Salander's credibility."†   (source)
  • We saw our work as having two natures: the one, to ease the suffering of the afflicted, and the other, more important but far less certain in its outcome, to bolster up the defenses of the well.†   (source)
  • She propped herself up on her elbows as if to bolster a rage already made worse by the tears distorting her face.†   (source)
  • He tried to bolster Gilly's courage and give her what cheer he could, but that proved hard.†   (source)
  • Bulbs and bolsters!†   (source)
  • I got a few new items of clothing which might help bolster my confidence.†   (source)
  • The memory of defeats followed by eventual victory in the Revolution helped bolster Confederate morale in similar times of trouble.†   (source)
  • No giants or ogres remained to bolster their thinning lines, and each passing second saw more of their allies desert the cause.†   (source)
  • It will bolster your case.†   (source)
  • She softened its roughest edges and added several depressing statistics to bolster her case.†   (source)
  • Every five minutes some laughing idiot selling you something you don't want, just to bolster up the economic system.†   (source)
  • But all the upholstered furniture had been cleared out of the sitting room and had been replaced by cushions and bolsters and African mats.†   (source)
  • BOTARD: A lot—when it's said to bolster up a fantastic statement by Miss Daisy.†   (source)
  • "Otherwise," he said, "a member of Congress giving weight to expressed public sentiment becomes only an automatic machine, and Congress requires no patriotism, no education, and no courage…… " And so, with only his conscience to sustain him, the Senator worked around the clock to bolster the sagging spirits of his little band, to prepare new speakers for continuous debate and to check every opposition move to end the filibuster.†   (source)
  • Labor-intensive industries -- agriculture, construction, food processing, restaurants, domestic help agencies -- want cheap immigrant labor to bolster their bottom lines.†   (source)
  • As a distraction, she fell to talking to herself—nonsense mostly—anything to bolster her resolve or focus her mind on other subjects.†   (source)
  • He used the threat of imprisonment for life, for treason, if Bjurman were to breathe so much as one syllable about Zalachenko, and at the same time he offered inducements, promises of future assignments, and finally he used flattery to bolster Bjurman's feeling of importance.†   (source)
  • Some saw themselves as pawns in a broader scheme by Scipio to paint himself as a reformer to bolster a possible run for sheriff.†   (source)
  • "In addition," said Oromis, "a magician who possesses an Eldunari can draw upon the dragon's strength to bolster his spells, again without regard for where the dragon might be.†   (source)
  • The fact that warnings came and went with no attack seemed to bolster his case that the group did not possess the capability to carry out a major terror spectacular on the American homeland.†   (source)
  • The United States could do a world of good--and bolster its international image--if it joined the British and Norwegians in that effort.†   (source)
  • Also, knowledge of our existence shall bolster the spirits of the dwarves and the Varden and counteract any adverse effects Murtagh and Thorn's appearance on the Burning Plains may have had upon the resolution of their warriors.†   (source)
  • Scipio, even if motivated in part by a desire to bolster his résumé when he sought the job of police chief in Clarkston, came to identify with the refugees during his first week on the job, when it dawned on him that as a black man, without his police uniform he could have easily been singled out by Clarkston cops.†   (source)
  • The family tried to bolster Melanie's courage after each of these disappointments.†   (source)
  • Beside the window the enormous bed was made up, with ragged blankets and a coverless bolster.†   (source)
  • By rolling up one end one makes a sort of bolster.†   (source)
  • "Well, I want to be a writer," I mumbled, unsure of myself; I had not planned to tell her that, but she had made me feel so utterly wrong and of no account that I needed to bolster myself.†   (source)
  • …it was night the owls back in the swamps would be whoo-vn% and moaning like love and death and damnation, or one would sail out of the pitch dark into the rays of your headlights and plunge against the radiator to explode like a ripped feather bolster, and the fields would be deep in that rank, hairy or slick, juicy, sticky grass which the cattle gorge on and never get flesh over their ribs for that grass is in that black soil and no matter how far the roots could ever go, if the roots…†   (source)
  • It was a day in that season when the sun bolsters a fallen wing with a show of soaring, a day of heat and light.†   (source)
  • In Ashley and his love lay strength upon which to lay her weakness, courage to bolster her fear, ease for her sorrow.†   (source)
  • "Ay, bolster each other up in your ignorance," returned Cap with a sneer.†   (source)
  • The bench-boards they bar'd them, and there they spread over With beds and with bolsters.†   (source)
  • From the moment he realized this Amory resented social barriers as artificial distinctions made by the strong to bolster up their weak retainers and keep out the almost strong.†   (source)
  • She was not the least unhappy or depressed, and the various odd objects that surrounded her—the comic "purdah" carriage, the piles of rugs and bolsters, the rolling melons, the scent of sweet oils, the ladder, the brass-bound box, the sudden irruption of Mahmoud Ali's butler from the lavatory with tea and poached eggs upon a tray—they were all new and amusing, and led her to comment appropriately, but they wouldn't bite into her mind.†   (source)
  • I say, Bobbie, old chap, I am tired: He was tired for many days after that, and the settle seemed hard and uncomfortable in spite of all the pillows and bolsters and soft folded rugs.†   (source)
  • He spoke the verses aloud from the first lines till the music and rhythm suffused his mind, turning it to quiet indulgence; then copied them painfully to feel them the better by seeing them; then lay back on his bolster.†   (source)
  • On a black bier-like sofa in this hollow, propped up behind with one great angular black bolster like the block at a state execution in the good old times, sat his mother in a widow's dress.†   (source)
  • The bed had a spring mattress, and a special sort of bolster and silk pillowcases on the little pillows.†   (source)
  • For herself, she did nothing but caper about in the front chambers, jump on and off the bedsteads, and lie on the mattresses and piled-up bolsters and pillows before the enormous fires roaring in the chimneys.†   (source)
  • So the two brothers went off hand-in-hand into the wood, and returned in a minute with their arms full of things—such as bolsters, blankets, hearth-rugs, table-cloths, dish-covers and coal-scuttles.†   (source)
  • The excellent old gentleman being at these times a mere clothes-bag with a black skull-cap on the top of it, does not present a very animated appearance until he has undergone the two operations at the hands of his granddaughter of being shaken up like a great bottle and poked and punched like a great bolster.†   (source)
  • The first question which I am tempted to put to the proprietor of such great impropriety is, Who bolsters you?†   (source)
  • Nay, we are told, and we must believe it, so overwhelming is the evidence, though many of our people scarcely can believe it, that even rich and powerful men, the masters of the poor devils aforesaid, submitted to live amidst sights and sounds and smells which it is in the very nature of man to abhor and flee from, in order that their riches might bolster up this supreme folly.†   (source)
  • She took him to a room above-stairs, and introduced him to a bed on which a magnified bolster, in yellow calico, figured as a counterpane.†   (source)
  • A woman—in the old time she would have been called a handmaid—answered, and dexterously piled the pillows and bolsters as rests for the back; after which they sat upon the side of the divan, while water was brought fresh from the lake, and their feet bathed and dried with napkins.†   (source)
  • The usual articles were on the little table; the usual deadened fire was in the grate; the bed had its usual pall upon it; and the mistress of all sat on her black bier-like sofa, propped up by her black angular bolster that was like the headsman's block.†   (source)
  • They put a frame together in shape of three sides of a square, the opening to the door, and covered it with cushions and base curtains, and the cushions with a changeable spread striped brown and yellow; at the corners they placed pillows and bolsters sacked in cloth blue and crimson; then around the divan they laid a margin of carpet, and the inner space they carpeted as well; and when the carpet was carried from the opening of the divan to the door of the tent, their work was done;…†   (source)
  • Bowed down then the war-deer, the cheek-bolster took The face of the earl; and about him a many Of sea-warriors bold to their hall-slumber bow'd them; 690 No one of them thought that thence away should he Seek ever again to his home the beloved, His folk or his free burg, where erst he was fed; For of men had they learn'd that o'er mickle a many In that wine-hall aforetime the fell death had gotten Of the folk of the Danes; but the Lord to them gave it, To the folk of the Weders, the…†   (source)
  • The rope, sawn through, let go with a shuddering snap and my arms dropped like bolsters, aching with released strain.†   (source)
  • …make chambers a natural size so that a woman could sit on it properly he kneels down to do it I suppose there isnt in all creation another man with the habits he has look at the way hes sleeping at the foot of the bed how can he without a hard bolster its well he doesnt kick or he might knock out all my teeth breathing with his hand on his nose like that Indian god he took me to show one wet Sunday in the museum in Kildare street all yellow in a pinafore lying on his side on his hand…†   (source)
  • MOS: "Down-beds, and bolsters"— VOLP: Rare!†   (source)
  • It were a tedious difficulty, I think, To bring them to that prospect: damn them then, If ever mortal eyes do see them bolster More than their own!†   (source)
  • He no sooner, therefore, heard the violent uproar in the next room, than he leapt from his bolster, and, taking his sword in one hand, and the candle which burnt by him in the other, he went directly to Mrs Waters's chamber.†   (source)
  • Unluckily that worthy officer having, in a literal sense, taken his fill of liquor, had been some time retired to his bolster, where he was snoring so loud that it was not easy to convey a noise in at his ears capable of drowning that which issued from his nostrils.†   (source)
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  • Now he's back to overcoats and a bolster that sends up a cloud of feathers when you touch it.†   (source)
  • She went back into the bedroom, only to discover that Simon was asleep in the center of the bed, clutching the bolster pillow as if it were a human being.†   (source)
  • A switchblade with the handles missing, made in Mexico, the brass showing through the plating on the bolsters.†   (source)
  • 'Well Masters,' said Nob, 'I've ruffled up the clothes and put in a bolster down the middle of each bed.†   (source)
  • The bolster cushions have been reduced, which I hadn't realized, and while she's checking the exact price, a queue begins to form behind me.†   (source)
  • "How long has he been at this?" the rector demanded of Christopher, who was sitting propped against a bolster, looking less grave than I had expected.†   (source)
  • Indar lounged against a bolster, a man at ease.†   (source)
  • The cloud floated there to one side like the bolster on his grandmother's bed.†   (source)
  • Her head was in the center of the bolster, the widow's place in which she herself laid it.†   (source)
  • When they saw them they were glad that they had taken his advice: the windows had been forced open and were swinging, and the curtains were flapping; the beds were tossed about, and the bolsters slashed and flung upon the floor; the brown mat was torn to pieces.†   (source)
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  • You want shirtings?' and, barely moving his back from the bolster, would throw a bolt of cloth across the sheet spread on the floor of his stall.†   (source)
  • His name was the name of his merchant caste, and it was easy for me to imagine him in a dhoti reclining against a bolster in a cloth shop in a bazaar lane, with his feet bare, and his fingers massaging his toes, rubbing off the dead skin.†   (source)
  • The old shadow, familiar as sleep the life long, always ran down over the bolster this time of year, the warm and knotty medallions of the familiar counterpane-the overworked, inherited, and personal pattern-from which her mother's black shoes now pointed up.†   (source)
  • Bending above the bed, she smoothed out the bolster and, as she straightened up, laid her hand for a moment on his moist, tangled hair.†   (source)
  • 'I saw Phebe remove the bolster and then look down at a spot where the bolster had lain, on my side of the bed.†   (source)
  • A feather bed of one's very own, with sheets and a pillow—perhaps even two pillows, or a pillow and a bolster—and no need to get up in time for breakfast!†   (source)
  • His tiny sister, too young to understand what the game was about, had sat propped up against a bolster, laughing because the others were laughing.†   (source)
  • The room had been refurnished for him and Charlotte with silk-shaded reading lamps, bedside fleeces, drapes against the alley view and its barbarity--as in a palazzo against the smell of the canals--a satin cover on the bed, and auxiliary pillows on the roll of the bolster.†   (source)
  • Tom Stark prodded the dog with his toe for a little encouragement, but he might just as well have been prodding a bolster.†   (source)
  • His eyes shut, his teeth clenched, his features frozen in an agonized grimace, he was rolling his head from side to side on the bolster.†   (source)
  • Most of her make-up had transferred itself to his own face or the bolster, but a light stain of rouge still brought out the beauty of her cheekbone.†   (source)
  • He discovered that Bell had dressed up the bolster in his evening clothes.†   (source)
  • While the two women were whispering together, with their backs turned to Fantine's bed, the sister interrogating, the servant conjecturing, Fantine, with the feverish vivacity of certain organic maladies, which unite the free movements of health with the frightful emaciation of death, had raised herself to her knees in bed, with her shrivelled hands resting on the bolster, and her head thrust through the opening of the curtains, and was listening.†   (source)
  • Often he went to sleep on it, as he was, without undressing, without sheets, wrapped in his old student's overcoat, with his head on one little pillow, under which he heaped up all the linen he had, clean and dirty, by way of a bolster.†   (source)
  • Seeing, as she patted the pillow into its place on the bolster, that he was still looking at her as if waiting for the rest of her reply, she gave it a great poke in the middle, and asked, 'How could I help myself?'†   (source)
  • I dragged myself toward the bed, to seek the only defense I had left—my saving knife; but I could not reach the bolster.†   (source)
  • Would we but collect enough, she would clean and sort it, and there would be no end to the bolsters, pillows, saddles, and cushions she would stuff with it.†   (source)
  • Alice said afterwards she had never seen such a fuss made about anything in all her life—the way those two bustled about—and the quantity of things they put on—and the trouble they gave her in tying strings and fastening buttons—'Really they'll be more like bundles of old clothes than anything else, by the time they're ready!' she said to herself, as she arranged a bolster round the neck of Tweedledee, 'to keep his head from being cut off,' as he said.†   (source)
  • Well, now, the under sheet you must bring over the bolster,—so—and tuck it clear down under the mattress nice and smooth,—so,—do you see?†   (source)
  • Prince Andrew answered all his questions reluctantly but reasonably, and then said he wanted a bolster placed under him as he was uncomfortable and in great pain.†   (source)
  • …woolly head among the pillows, till it would sometimes be grotesquely ornamented with feathers sticking out in various directions; she would climb the posts, and hang head downward from the tops; flourish the sheets and spreads all over the apartment; dress the bolster up in Miss Ophelia's night-clothes, and enact various performances with that,—singing and whistling, and making grimaces at herself in the looking-glass; in short, as Miss Ophelia phrased it, "raising Cain" generally.†   (source)
  • He deposited the articles of clothing on a chair, removed his remaining articles of clothing, took from beneath the bolster at the head of the bed a folded long white nightshirt, inserted his head and arms into the proper apertures of the nightshirt, removed a pillow from the head to the foot of the bed, prepared the bedlinen accordingly and entered the bed.†   (source)
  • The good creature was lying behind the bolster, supporting at once both his child and his wife.†   (source)
  • She eat no meat to-day, nor none shall eat; Last night she slept not, nor to-night she shall not; As with the meat, some undeserved fault I'll find about the making of the bed; And here I'll fling the pillow, there the bolster, This way the coverlet, another way the sheets; Ay, and amid this hurly I intend That all is done in reverend care of her; And, in conclusion, she shall watch all night: And if she chance to nod I'll rail and brawl, And with the clamour keep her still awake.†   (source)
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