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Synonyms

boulder

1 American  
[bohl-der] / ˈboʊl dər /
Or bowlder

noun

  1. a detached and rounded or worn rock, especially a large one.

Boulder 2 American  
[bohl-der] / ˈboʊl dər /

noun

  1. a city in N Colorado.

boulder British  
/ ˈbəʊldə /

noun

  1. a smooth rounded mass of rock that has a diameter greater than 25cm and that has been shaped by erosion and transported by ice or water from its original position

  2. geology a rock fragment with a diameter greater than 256 mm and thus bigger than a cobble

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • bouldered adjective
  • bouldery adjective

Etymology

Origin of boulder

1610–20; short for boulder stone; Middle English bulderston < Scandinavian; compare dialectal Swedish bullersten big stone (in a stream), equivalent to buller rumbling noise (< Old Swedish bulder ) + sten stone

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

As Ryland works to translate Rocky’s language and build a system for the two to communicate, the bond formed between human and pentapedal boulder is palpable.

From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026

In her first picture, she stood in a one-piece on a boulder, smiling, a waterfall pummeling behind her.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2026

A 14-year-old girl decorated a large boulder off Greenland’s coast with the letters: “U.S.A. OK.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 24, 2026

This idea helped explain why foams appear stable once formed, much like a boulder resting at the bottom of a valley.

From Science Daily • Jan. 15, 2026

The last thing Aru saw before she touched the second key symbol on her mehndi map were some new words on the boulder.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.