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Wikipedia defines booster as"A booster rocket (or engine) is either the first stage of a multistage launch vehicle, or else a shorter-burning rocket used in parallel with longer-burning sustainer rockets to augment the space vehicle's takeoff thrust and payload capability."
Is this a case of Pedantics of the definition or are boosters always parallely staged?
The definition doesn't require staging in parallel. The booster is either the first of multiple stages, or one that drops off a sustainer stage that lit at sea level and keeps climbing post booster-shutdown. It's a rather open and flexible definition, rather than pedantic.
