I. ˈbōlt noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German bolz crossbow bolt, Lithuanian beldėti to knock, beat
1.
a. : a shaft or missile designed to be shot from a crossbow or catapult ; especially : a short stout usually blunt-headed arrow
b. : a concentrated flow of usually atmospheric electricity : a lightning stroke : thunderbolt
2.
a. : a bar or other usually cylindrically shaped length of metal, wood, or other strong material that moves through guides (as iron staples) attached to a door or other movable frame the end being received into an adjoining fixed socket (as one attached to the jamb or lintel)
b. : the part of a lock that is shot or withdrawn by the key
3.
a. : a roll of cloth of specified length
b. : a bundle (as of osiers or straw)
c. : a roll of wallpaper of specified length usually including two or three separate sections
4. obsolete : shackle , fetter
5.
a. : any of several herbs of the genus Ranunculus ; especially : bulbous buttercup
b. : a globeflower ( Trollius europaens ) having lemon-yellow flowers with incurving sepals
6. : a rod or heavy pin (as one made of steel) designed to fasten two or more objects (as metal plates) together or to hold one or more objects in place often having a head at one end and a screw thread cut upon the other end and being usually secured by a nut or by riveting
7.
a. : a block of timber to be sawed or cut (as into shingles or staves)
b. : a short round section of a log
c. : a bundle of boards joined by an end not sawed through
8. : a usually large quantity of matter often like a jet in form or movement
bolts of water gushing over the dam
flaming bolts erupting from the surface of the sun
9. : the breech closure of breech-loading rifles that is designed like a door bolt, has a back-and-forth movement that opens and closes the bore, and is locked in position usually through rotation ; also : a small-arm breech closure however designed
10. : the uncut folded paper at the head, fore edge, and foot of a signature (as of a book)
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II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English bolten, bulten, from bolt, n.
intransitive verb
1. : to move suddenly or nervously (as from surprise or fright) often involuntarily : move with a sudden jerk from one position to another : start , spring — usually used with up or upright
anger energized me and I bolted upright in bed — Robert Hazel
the Judge had bolted upright from the pillows — Sir Winston Churchill
2. : to move rapidly : dart forward : dash
he completely lost his head, bolted out of the yard into the road, and ran up the street — J.C.Powys
3.
a. : to dart off or away (as when fleeing) : suddenly make off : rush away : run off : escape
two sullen-faced aides bolted from the farmhouse and ran — Kenneth Roberts
a young woman bolting from too much domesticity — E.A.Weeks
b. : to emerge (as from a lair) and flee
the fox bolted
c. : to break away from control : dash violently aside or off a set course
the horse shied and bolted
the well-trained bird dog rarely bolts
4. obsolete : to fall suddenly like a stroke of lightning
his cloudless thunder bolted on their heads — John Milton
5. : to loose an arrow too soon after the draw
6.
a. : to produce seed prematurely
the cultivated carrot is a biennial but it may sometimes bolt — J.M.Hector
b. : to produce a flowering stalk
the lettuce will bolt
7. : to break away from a political party and go over to the opposition : refuse to support the party platform or candidate
many party members were indignant and promptly bolted
transitive verb
1. obsolete : to put into irons : fetter
2.
a. archaic : to let fly (as a missile) : shoot , discharge
bolting the arrows straight at the target
b. archaic : to drive out by force : expel
to have been bolted forth, thrust out abruptly into Fortune's way — William Wordsworth
c. : to cause to emerge into the open (as from a lair) : dislodge
they used ferrets to bolt the rabbits
3. : to utter explosively or impulsively : give voice to or express hastily and usually with little or no reflection : blurt
bolting the word out as if he had restrained it with difficulty until this moment — Virginia Woolf
4.
a. : to secure (as a door) with a bolt
b. : to cause to be shut up or excluded (as by bolting a door)
bolting the prisoners in their cells
keeping prowlers bolted out
5.
a. : to attach or fasten together with bolts
steel plates bolted together
b. : to furnish or stud with bolts
the newly bolted hull of the ship
6. : to consume (as food or drink) hastily or greedily : gobble or gulp down : eat with little or no chewing : swallow whole : swallow with spasmodic gulps
tearing the food from one another and bolting what they could keep with convulsive haste — T.B.Costain
I struggled out of bed, pried open my eyes, shaved and showered, and bolted down some breakfast — H.A.Smith
bolting a cup of coffee
7.
a. : to cut (timber) into bolts
logs that were bolted into 18-inch blocks
b. : to make up (as lengths of cloth) into bolts
8. : to break away from or refuse to support (as a political party or candidate)
bolted the national ticket
III. adverb
Etymology: Middle English, from bolt, n.
1. : in a rigidly erect or straight-backed position : perpendicularly — usually used with upright
she, sitting bolt upright, paused — Elizabeth Bowen
2. archaic : directly , straight
Mrs. Berry … ran bolt out of the house — George Meredith
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: bolt (II)
: an act or instance of bolting: as
a. : a quick dash or flight
a bolt for shelter
b. : refusal to support or repudiation of a political party, candidate, or platform
fear of a widespread bolt by party members
V. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English bulten, from Old French buleter, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle High German biuteln to sift, from biutel bag, from Old High German būtil — more at bud
1. : to sift (as meal or flour) usually through fine-meshed cloth ; also : to refine or purify (as meal or flour) through any process
2. archaic : to examine and separate as though by sifting
time and nature will bolt out the truth of things — Roger L'Estrange
VI. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English bult, from bulten, v.
: bolter I a