Holster

How to spell holster

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce holster

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does holster mean?

1. nounA fitted case, usually of leather, worn on a belt or harness to hold a pistol or handgun.
2. verbTo put a pistol or handgun back into its case.

Holster in a sentence

• noun

  The officer kept the spare magazine in a pouch beside the holster.

• verb

  The instructor told every recruit to holster the weapon before turning around.

• noun

  A worn leather holster hung from the museum mannequin's belt.

• verb

  She would holster her sidearm only once the area was confirmed clear.

Where does holster come from?

Language of origin: Dutch

Holster came into English in the middle of the 1600s, almost certainly from Dutch holster, a leather case for a pistol. The Dutch word belongs to a wider Germanic family that includes the Old Norse hulstr, meaning a sheath or covering, and the Old English heolster, which meant a place of concealment or hiding. The underlying idea in all of these relatives is something that wraps, covers, or hides an object away. As firearms became common cavalry equipment, the word settled on the specific sense of a fitted case that holds a pistol close to the body or saddle. Because the spelling preserves that older Germanic shape, it keeps the slightly unexpected -lster cluster rather than anything more phonetic, which is the main thing to remember when writing it.

How the word is built

• holster (single root from a Germanic word for a covering or sheath; no separable prefix or suffix)