BOLT

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German bolz crossbow ~, and perhaps to Lithuanian beldėti to beat Date: before 12th century 1. a shaft or missile designed to be shot from a crossbow or catapult, a lightning stroke, 2. a wood or metal bar or rod used to fasten a door, the part of a lock that is shot or withdrawn by the key, a roll of cloth or wallpaper of specified length, a metal rod or pin for fastening objects together that usually has a head at one end and a screw thread at the other and is secured by a nut, 5. a block of timber to be sawed or cut, a short round section of a log, a metal cylinder that drives the cartridge into the chamber of a firearm, locks the breech, and usually contains the firing pin and extractor, II. verb Date: 13th century intransitive verb to move suddenly or nervously ; start , to move or proceed rapidly ; dash , 3. to dart off or away ; flee , to break away from control or a set course, to break away from or oppose one's previous affiliation (as with a political party or sports team), to produce seed prematurely, transitive verb 1. shoot , discharge , flush , start , to say impulsively ; blurt , to secure with a ~ , to attach or fasten with ~s, to eat hastily or without chewing , to break away from or refuse to support (as a political party), III. adverb Date: 14th century in an erect or straight-backed position ; rigidly , directly , straight , IV. noun Date: 1550 the act or an instance of ~ing, V. transitive verb Etymology: Middle English bulten, from Anglo-French buleter, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle High German biuteln to sift, from biutel bag, from Old High German būtil Date: 13th century to sift (as flour) usually through fine-meshed cloth, sift 2