Definition of "bollard" [bol•lard]

• Nautical A thick post on a ship or wharf, used for securing ropes and hawsers. (noun)
• One of a series of posts preventing vehicles from entering an area. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "On the approach of the officer there was no challenge, so to find the reason of this the officer climbed up the ladder and found the sentry, who explained he had seen something "right enuff," but thought it was "one of them things they tie ships to" -- in other words a bollard."
• "On an ancient stone stump, about three feet thick and three feet high, used for securing ships by ropes to the shore, and called a bollard or holdfast, an elderly gentleman sits facing the land with his head bowed and his face in his hands, sobbing."
• "Although Jim cycling into a bollard was a highlight."