bollard
noun
Simple meaning
A strong post.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
bahlerdSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɑlɚd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
nautical
A strong post (as on a wharf or quay or ship for attaching mooring lines)
“The road was closed to vehicular traffic with bollards.”
nautical
A strong vertical post of timber or iron, fixed to the ground and/or on the deck of a ship, to which the ship's mooring lines etc are secured.
A similar post preventing vehicle access to a pedestrian area, to delineate traffic lanes, or used for security purposes.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A strong post (as on a wharf or quay or ship for attaching mooring lines)
Used this way, bollard is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a nautical use: it is standard at sea and largely unfamiliar ashore.
“The road was closed to vehicular traffic with bollards.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Sailing/maritime
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use bollard
- “The road was closed to vehicular traffic with bollards.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.