[f. as prec. + -ER1.]
1. One who bolsters up (anything); a supporter, upholder. (Generally in bad sense.)
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cccl. 561. Who durst begyn suche a ryot … without some bolsterer or comforter in their dede.
1552. Latimer, Serm. Lincolnsh., ii. 75. Magistrates ought not to be bolsterers and bearers with wickedness.
1640. A. Harsnet, God’s Summons, 224. Enemies would have said that God had beene a Bolsterer and Patron of Sinne.
2. Cf. BOLSTER v. 6.
a. 1600[?]. Hye way Spyttel Ho., 831, in Hazl., E. P. P., IV. 60. Incestes, harlots, bawdes and bolsterers.
