boulder
/ˈboʊl.dɚ/noun, verb
boulder is spelled B-O-U-L-D-E-R: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, boulder means “A large mass of stone detached from the surrounding land” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of boulder is boulders.
How many letters and syllables are in boulder?
| Letters | 7: B-O-U-L-D-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.1 times per million words; the 11,015th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is boulder?
Boulder appears 5.1 times per million words in written English, the 11,015th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce boulder?
- UK /ˈbəʊl.də(ɹ)/
- US /ˈboʊl.dɚ/
Boulder has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-boulder.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with boulder?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as boulder from its last stressed vowel (/oʊldəɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: doubler.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of boulder
- boulders plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- bouldering participle, present
- bouldered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does boulder mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A large mass of stone detached from the surrounding land.
- 2
A particle greater than 256 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale
- 3
A large marble, in children's games.
- 4
A session of bouldering; involvement in bouldering.
verb
- 1
To engage in bouldering.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate boulder?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of boulder: bldr.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Boulder in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense large mass of stone:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rocher, boulder |
| German | Felsbrocken, Felsblock, Fels |
| Portuguese | pedregulho, rocha |
| Spanish | peña, peñasco |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does boulder come from?
From late Middle English bulder, short for Middle English bulder ston (“a stone that's been worn into a round shape, boulder, cobblestone”), possibly from Old Swedish *buldersten, itself possibly from Old Swedish bulder (“rumble, noise”) + sten (“stone”); whence dialectal Swedish bullersten (“large stone in a stream, causing water to roar around it”). The first element may alternatively be allied to Old Swedish bulle, bolle (“round drinking vessel, tumbler”), from Old Norse bolli, related to Old English bolla (“round object, bowl”), see English bowl.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).