Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Nautical A thick post on a ship or wharf, used for securing ropes and hawsers.
- n. One of a series of posts preventing vehicles from entering an area.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Nautical, a strong post fixed vertically alongside of a dock, on which to fasten hawsers for securing or hauling ships.
- n. Same as billet-head, 1 .
Wiktionary
- n. nautical A strong vertical post of timber or iron, fixed to the ground and/or on the deck of a ship, to which the ship's mooring lines etc are secured
- n. A similar post preventing vehicle access to a pedestrian area, to delineate traffic lanes, or used for security purposes.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An upright wooden or iron post in a boat or on a dock, used in veering or fastening ropes.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a strong post (as on a wharf or quay or ship for attaching mooring lines)
Etymologies
- Origin unknown; perhaps from bole. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, probably from bole, tree trunk; see bole1. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“On the approach of the officer there was no challenge, so to find the reason of this the officer climbed up the ladder and found the sentry, who explained he had seen something "right enuff," but thought it was "one of them things they tie ships to" -- in other words a bollard.”
The Fifth Battalion Highland Light Infantry in the War 1914-1918
“On an ancient stone stump, about three feet thick and three feet high, used for securing ships by ropes to the shore, and called a bollard or holdfast, an elderly gentleman sits facing the land with his head bowed and his face in his hands, sobbing.”
“Although Jim cycling into a bollard was a highlight.”
TravelPod.com TravelStream™ — Recent Entries at TravelPod.com
“The entire length of rope unwound directly from the reel or 'bollard' of the first launch, and the line of a second boat was attached forthwith; a third and a fourth were annexed, but the whale exhibited no sign of exhaustion, and dragged his pursuers like the wind.”
“bollard," a piece of timber near the stern of the boat.”
“We made a triangle with our eyes: me looking mournfully at Leo, Leo scrutinising the man in the denim jacket, the man watching me, leaning on a concrete bollard and chewing gum.”
“I love it that there is a word like “bollard” — it sounds ridiculous and ponderous and silly all at once.”
“A 57-year-old woman was taken to hospital on Thursday with fractures to her face and ribs and internal injuries after what police described as a "bucket-sized" concrete bollard hit the car she was travelling in with husband, who was driving at the time and suffered minor cuts and bruises.”
The Guardian: Fresh concrete block report leads to partial closure of A12
“They verbally abuse her calling her a P**i for nudging one of them off his bollard as she crosses the road.”
“There's also line-tossing, where deckhands are timed lassoing a bollard on a pier from an approaching tug.”
The Wall Street Journal: A Harbor's Ugly Ducklings Can't Resist the Tug of Speed
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bollard’.
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defense
shield, aegis, armor, cuirass, plastron, inured, reinforced, cataphract, proof, targus, buckler, shield bearer and 123 more...
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phrontistery - b
List of words from phrontistery.info
bywoner, byssus, byssiferous, byssaceous, byrnie, butyric, butyraceous, buttery, buteonine, bunting, burdet, broma and 582 more...
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Wordnik Spam Inquiries
We get a lot of spam emails at Wordnik that fit this pattern: "Mr Bob Wilson here and i will like to know if you do have X for sale". The words on this list represent a subset of such requested items.
burnisher, shaper vise, salt spreader, soil pulveriser, bible, flutes, baffles, crucifix cross, proofer, gazebo, real bubble wrap, roller tray and 206 more...
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'ard enough
The derogatory suffix -ard, now used in just a few words though previously very productive.
bastard, coward, shittard, squittard, cackard, snivelard, dullard, sluggard, niggard, dizzard, blaggard, drunkard and 21 more...
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Favorite Words
pablum, maundy, histrionic, adamant, ascribe, verbiage, insouciant, erudite, gregarious, superfluous, banal, obdurate and 280 more...
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Nautical Words
lubber, mizzenmast, circumnavigation, clipper, cordage, galleon, gangplank, gangway, flying bridge, following sea, schooner, amidships and 106 more...
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Fun Words
Words that are fun to say....
gobbledygook, jings, crivens, hullabaloo, wheech, brouhaha, pizzazz, harum-scarum, namby-pamby, pussyfoot, frippery, pitter-patter and 333 more...
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Hey! L...
for the same
ichthyarchy, thalassic, nip-cheese, cerement, manavalins, rockweed, polder, semipalmate, blue peter, curragh, crowfoot, cat and 158 more...
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The Aubrey/Maturin List I'm Gonna Mak...
I'm wading through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels one by one, and someday, I'll wade through them again and list all the words I learned while reading them.
Edit: I started ma...studdingsail, carronade, mumchance, grumlin-futtocks, crosscat-harpings, holystone, sennit, orlop, orchitis, negus, kevel, altumal and 1112 more...
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Carlos' Words
monstropolous, absquatulate
triffid, calque, pinguid, refulgent, monstropolous, Seanchaí, clinquant, Chryselephantine ..., peavey, milium, swage, Burtillon, Burtil... and 214 more...
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ktrey's wordlist
Words that I like.
Many may be lexicographically impotent due to a lack of citations and definition. Hopefully I'll be able to rectify this eventually.velleity, dispositive, bloviate, bibulous, fungible, concupiscence, avuncular, carnaptious, thrawn, hypocoristic, diegesis, lagniappe and 928 more...
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#termsfromtoday
I'm always entertained by the terms @immerito tweets using the hashtag #termsfromtoday. As best I can tell, the tag emerged in mid 2011 after a brief flirtation with an alternate hashtag form. You'...
vortex ring state, gamine, airshed, drayage, judging rubric, shoulder graphic, diableries, exaptation, aggravant, anecdata, monégasques, vorticity and 301 more...
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deidionysus's list
Words, words, words!
cartesian, shavian, dithyramb, dreadnaught, lea, adamantine, titanomachy, theomachy, aethereal, ambrosia, ambrosial, aether and 183 more...
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azd's Words
adamantine, abatial, ablate, ablative, abrogate, accretive, acromegaly, acrostic, actinism, actinic, acuity, adduce and 968 more...
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NeoVolt's Words
schadenfreude, serendipity, idiosyncrasy, loess, caducous, vagary, schematic, steeple, licentious, tangential, verisimilitude, vernacular and 385 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, B
bloviate, bejesus, brouhaha, behoove, bodacious, bamboozle, banshee, bub, bolus, blob, bubbly, bleb and 414 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for bollard.
reesetee I hate it when that happens. Feb 8, 2008
chained_bear "Stephen stood up, hesitated, leapt for a bollard with a sergeant standing by it, and missed his hold. He fell between the jetty and the boat, and coming to the surface called out in Catalan, 'Pull me out. Hell and death.'"
—Patrick O'Brian, The Surgeon's Mate, 258 Feb 8, 2008