Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A soft moist mass of bread, meal, clay, or other adhesive substance, usually heated, spread on cloth, and applied to warm, moisten, or stimulate an aching or inflamed part of the body.
  • transitive verb To apply a poultice to.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A soft and usually warm mass of meal, bread, herbs, or the like, used as an emollient application to sores, inflamed parts of the body, etc.; a cataplasm.
  • To cover with a poultice; apply poultices to.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A soft composition, as of bread, bran, or a mucilaginous substance, to be applied to sores, inflamed parts of the body, etc.; a cataplasm.
  • transitive verb To apply a poultice to; to dress with a poultice.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A soft, moist mass applied topically to a sore, aching or lesioned part of the body to soothe. A poultice is usually wrapped in cloth and often warmed before being applied.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a medical dressing consisting of a soft heated mass of meal or clay that is spread on a cloth and applied to the skin to treat inflamed areas or improve circulation etc.
  • verb dress by covering with a therapeutic substance

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English pultes, from Medieval Latin pultēs, thick paste, from Latin, pl. of puls, pult-, pottage; see pulse.]

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Examples

  • I have heard the term poultice applied to the suet pudding more than once in casual conversations in the exercise ground.

    Prisoner for Blasphemy 1882

  • During the second five minutes this belief evaporates, but the poultice is buckled at the back and you can’t get it off.

    How the Poor Die 1946

  • A poultice is a liquid cleaner or chemical mixed with a white absorbent material to form a paste about the consistency of peanut butter.

    HOME COMFORTS CHERYL MENDELSON 2005

  • A poultice is a liquid cleaner or chemical mixed with a white absorbent material to form a paste about the consistency of peanut butter.

    HOME COMFORTS CHERYL MENDELSON 2005

  • A poultice is a liquid cleaner or chemical mixed with a white absorbent material to form a paste about the consistency of peanut butter.

    HOME COMFORTS CHERYL MENDELSON 2005

  • Old country doctors used a device called a poultice to draw out the infectious pus or poison to the surface in a crude but honest attempt to cure.

    The "Anonymous" Super Patriots are crawling out of the mud! Michael Caddell 2005

  • A poultice is a liquid cleaner or chemical mixed with a white absorbent material to form a paste about the consistency of peanut butter.

    HOME COMFORTS CHERYL MENDELSON 2005

  • Old country doctors used a device called a poultice to draw out the infectious pus or poison to the surface in a crude but honest attempt to cure.

    Archive 2005-04-01 Michael Caddell 2005

  • A poultice is a hot, moist mass of boiled potato, ground flaxseed, powdered fenugreek, or another substance designed to hold prolonged, moist warmth between two layers of linen or coarse cotton cloth.

    THE NATURAL REMEDY BIBLE JOHN LUST 2003

  • If the knee be bruised as well as cut, a poultice should be applied, and changed two or three times a day; but on no account use gunpowder, which is a favourite remedy for broken knees with ignorant people, as it only irritates the wound.

    The Lady's Country Companion: or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally Jane 1845

Comments

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  • A little later they sat down, chattering, to a festive dinner. But old Ebenezer had to have his in bed with a poultice on his sprained hock.

    - William Steig, Farmer Palmer's Wagon Ride

    September 29, 2008

  • Australian slang for 'bribe.'

    December 8, 2012