bole

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The trunk of a tree.
2. n. Any of various soft fine clays, especially a reddish-brown variety used as a pigment.
3. n. A moderate reddish brown.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The body or stem of a tree.
2. n. Anything of cylindrical shape; a roll; a pillar: as, boles of stone.
3. n. A small boat suited for a rough sea.
4. n. A general term including certain compact, amorphous, soft, more or less brittle, unctuous clays, having a conchoidal fracture and greasy luster, and varying in color from yellow, red, or brown to nearly black. They are hydrous silicates of aluminium, with more or less iron, to which they owe their color, and are used as pigments. The red letters in old manuscripts were painted with bole. Armenian bole is a native clay, or silicate of aluminium, containing considerable oxid of iron, formerly brought from Armenia, but more recently obtained in various parts of Europe. It is pale-red, soft and unctuous to the touch, and has been used as an astringent and absorbent, and also as a pigment. Bole of Blois is yellow, lighter than the other kinds, and effervesces with acids. Bohemian bole is of a yellow color with a cast of red, and of a flaky texture. French bole is of a pale-red color, variegated with specks of white and yellow. Lemnian bole is of a pale-red color. Silesian bole is of a pale-yellow color. These earths were formerly employed as astringent, absorbent, and tonic medicines, and they are still in repute in the East; they are also used occasionally as veterinary medicines in Europe.
5. n. A bolus; a dose.
6. n. Another spelling of boll.
7. n. A small square recess or cavity in a wall; also, a window or opening in the wall of a house, usually with a wooden shutter instead of glass.
8. n. A name given in the north of England to a place where lead was anciently smelted. These boles, which are identified by the piles of slag left by the ancient smelters, are supposed to have been built by simply placing stones around a central fire, and in situations where there would be likely to be a good draft, since no artificial blast was used. Also called bayle hills.
9. n. In medieval and early Renaissance art, an earthy paste added over gesso as a ground for tempera painting and gilding.

Wiktionary

1. n. The trunk or stem of a tree.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The trunk or stem of a tree, or that which is like it.
2. n. Scot. An aperture, with a wooden shutter, in the wall of a house, for giving, occasionally, air or light; also, a small closet.
3. n. A measure. See boll, n., 2.
4. n. Any one of several varieties of friable earthy clay, usually colored more or less strongly red by oxide of iron, and used to color and adulterate various substances. It was formerly used in medicine. It is composed essentially of hydrous silicates of alumina, or more rarely of magnesia. See clay, and terra alba.
5. n. A bolus; a dose.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the main stem of a tree; usually covered with bark; the bole is usually the part that is commercially useful for lumber
2. n. a soft oily clay used as a pigment (especially a reddish brown pigment)
3. n. a Chadic language spoken in northern Nigeria and closely related to Hausa