/booht"strap'/ , n., adj., v., bootstrapped, bootstrapping .
n.
1. a loop of leather or cloth sewn at the top rear, or sometimes on each side, of a boot to facilitate pulling it on.
2. a means of advancing oneself or accomplishing something: He used his business experience as a bootstrap to win voters.
3. pull oneself up by one's bootstraps , to help oneself without the aid of others; use one's resources: I admire him for pulling himself up by his own bootstraps.
adj.
4. relying entirely on one's efforts and resources: The business was a bootstrap operation for the first ten years.
5. self-generating or self-sustaining: a bootstrap process.
v.t.
6. Computers. boot 1 (def. 26).
7. to help (oneself) without the aid of others: She spent years bootstrapping herself through college.
[ 1890-95; BOOT 1 + STRAP ]