Meanings
plural poultices
- A soft, moist mass, usually wrapped in cloth and warmed, that is applied topically to a sore, aching or lesioned part of the body to soothe it.
The poultice relaxeth the pores.
1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC2 more examples
Sties in the eye are irritating and disfiguring. Foment with warm water; at night apply a bread-and-milk poultice.
1876, Eliza Bisbee Duffey, Our Behaviour: A Manual of Etiquette and Dress of the Best American Society, Philadelphia“Uh, Dad? I'm a little worried about Mom.” “She's fine. Just swab her with a little more of our patented homemade poultice. Available in the lobby!” (monstrous, plaintive moaning) “That's it. Really let those onion skins go to work.”
2017 September 4, Jeff Kauffmann, “The Talented Mr. Dingleberry” (17:28 from the start), in American Dad!, season 14, episode 21, spoken by Stan Smith (Seth MacFarlane)
present singular third person poultices · participle present poulticing · participle past poulticed · past poulticed
- transitiveTo treat with a poultice.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna 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.
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpultes
- Middle Englishpultes
- Englishpoultice
From Middle English pultes, from Latin pultes, plural of puls. The phonological development from Middle English is regular; compare poultry.
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κατάπλασμα
- κατάπλασμα (katáplasma)soft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Arabic لَبْخَة
- لَبْخَة (labḵa)soft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Bulgarian компрес, лапа
- компрес (kompres)soft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- лапа (lapa)soft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Catalan cataplasma
- cataplasmasoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Chinese Mandarin 泥敷劑 /泥敷剂
- 泥敷劑 /泥敷剂 (nífūjì)soft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Danish omslag, grødomslag
- omslagsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- grødomslagsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Dutch papomslag, cataplasma
- papomslagsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- cataplasmasoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Finnish haude
- haudesoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
French cataplasme, emplâtre
- cataplasmesoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- emplâtresoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
German Kataplasma, Wickel
- Kataplasmasoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- Wickelsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- Umschlagsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- Packungsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Greek κατάπλασμα
- κατάπλασμα (katáplasma)soft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Irish ceirín
- ceirínsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Italian cataplasma
- cataplasmasoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Japanese 罨法
- 罨法 (anpō)soft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Latin fōmentum
- fōmentumsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Māori whakapiripiri, tākai
- whakapiripirisoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- tākaisoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Norwegian grøtomslag
- grøtomslagsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Polish kataplazm
- kataplazmsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Portuguese emplastro, emplasto
- emplastrosoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- emplastosoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- cataplasmasoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Russian припа́рка
- припа́рка (pripárka)soft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Spanish cataplasma, emplasto
- cataplasmasoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- emplastosoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- émbrocasoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- embrocaciónsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- emplastesoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- bizmasoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- pegotesoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- pegatostesoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Swedish grötomslag, foment
- grötomslagsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- fomentsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
- omslagsoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Turkish lapa
- lapasoft, moist mass applied topically to a part of the body
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
poultice. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poultice
“poultice.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poultice. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “poultice,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poultice.
Source: poultice on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.