bolster vs support

bolster

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

noun
  • 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. 

  • 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 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. 

support

verb
  • To serve, as in a customer-oriented mindset; to give support to. 

  • To keep from falling. 

  • To be designed (said of machinery, electronics, or computers, or their parts, accessories, peripherals, or programming) to function compatibly with or provide the capacity for. 

  • To help, particularly financially. 

  • To back a cause, party, etc., mentally or with concrete aid. 

  • To verify; to make good; to substantiate; to establish; to sustain. 

  • To answer questions and resolve problems regarding something sold. 

  • To be accountable for, or involved with, but not responsible for. 

  • To assume and carry successfully, as the part of an actor; to represent or act; to sustain. 

noun
  • An actor playing a subordinate part with a star. 

  • Answers to questions and resolution of problems regarding something sold. 

  • Evidence. 

  • Something which supports. 

  • An accompaniment in music. 

  • Compatibility and functionality for a given product or feature. 

  • Horizontal, vertical or rotational support of structures: movable, hinged, fixed. 

  • Financial or other help. 

  • A set whose elements are at least partially included in a given fuzzy set (i.e., whose grade of membership in that fuzzy set is strictly greater than zero). 

  • in relation to a function, the set of points where the function is not zero, or the closure of that set. 

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