bolster vs pleach

bolster

noun
  • A short, horizontal structural timber between a post and a beam for enlarging the bearing area of the post and/or reducing the span of the beam. 

  • The metallic end of a pocketknife handle. 

  • A large cushion or pillow. 

  • A small spacer located on top of the axle of horse-drawn wagons that gives the front wheels enough clearance to turn. 

  • The perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched. 

  • A pad, quilt, or anything used to hinder pressure, support part of the body, or make a bandage sit easy upon a wounded part; a compress. 

  • A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation. 

  • The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital. 

  • A beam in the middle of a railway truck, supporting the body of the car. 

  • The part of a knife blade that abuts upon the end of the handle. 

verb
  • To brace, reinforce, secure, or support. 

pleach

noun
  • A notch cut into a branch so that it can be bent when pleaching is carried out. 

  • An act or result of interweaving; specifically, (horticulture) a hedge or lattice created by interweaving the branches of shrubs, trees, etc. 

  • A branch of a shrub, tree, etc., used for pleaching; a pleacher. 

verb
  • To unite by interweaving, as (horticulture) branches of shrubs, trees, etc., to create a hedge; to interlock, to plash. 

How often have the words bolster and pleach occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )