From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Boisterous \Bois"ter*ous\, a. [OE. boistous; of uncertain
origin; cf. W. bwyst wild, savage, wildness, ferocity,
bwystus ferocious.]
1. Rough or rude; unbending; unyielding; strong; powerful.
[Obs.] "Boisterous sword." "Boisterous hand." --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. Exhibiting tumultuous violence and fury; acting with noisy
turbulence; violent; rough; stormy.
[1913 Webster]
The waters swell before a boisterous storm. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
The brute and boisterous force of violent men.
--Milton.
[1913 Webster]
3. Noisy; rough; turbulent; as, boisterous mirth; boisterous
behavior.
[1913 Webster]
I like not that loud, boisterous man. --Addison.
[1913 Webster]
4. Vehement; excessive. [R.]
[1913 Webster]
The heat becomes too powerful and boisterous for
them. --Woodward.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Loud; roaring; violent; stormy; turbulent; furious;
tumultuous; noisy; impetuous; vehement.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
boisterous
adj 1: noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline; "a
boisterous crowd"; "a social gathering that became
rambunctious and out of hand"; "a robustious group of
teenagers"; "beneath the rumbustious surface of his
paintings is sympathy for the vulnerability of ordinary
human beings"; "an unruly class" [syn: boisterous,
rambunctious, robustious, rumbustious, unruly]
2: full of rough and exuberant animal spirits; "boisterous
practical jokes"; "knockabout comedy" [syn: boisterous,
knockabout]
3: violently agitated and turbulent; "boisterous winds and
waves"; "the fierce thunders roar me their music"- Ezra
Pound; "rough weather"; "rough seas" [syn: boisterous,
fierce, rough]