Holstered

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Safely secured in a protective holder or fitting designed to carry a weapon or tool
2. Kept in a case or holder intended to carry or support a firearm or similar object
3. Stored within a fitted container made to hold equipment such as a gun securely

Etymology: "Holstered" is the past form of "holster," and the noun behind it has a surprisingly plain ancestry: it traces back to a Proto-Germanic word meaning roughly "covering" or "case." That same root gave Old English "heolstor," which meant a covering, veil, or hiding-place, so the sense of concealing something is older than any connection to firearms. The word came into English from Dutch "holster," meaning a pistol case, which in turn came from Middle Low German. Its relatives across the Germanic languages show how general the idea once was: Danish "hylster" means a pistol case or envelope, Icelandic "hulstur" means a sheath, and German "Halfter" also means a pistol case. The English word has the same root as "hull," the outer shell of a ship or a seed, and "hele," meaning to cover. The verb form carries the sense of placing a weapon or tool into such a case, so the word describes both the object and the act of securing something inside it.

Synonyms: sheathed, stored

Antonyms: drawn, unsheathed