bolt
Meanings
noun
- A (usually) metal fastener consisting of a cylindrical body that is threaded, with a larger head on one end. It can be inserted into an unthreaded hole up to the head, with a nut then threaded on the other end; a heavy machine screw.
- Latch-related senses
- A sliding pin or bar in a lock or latch mechanism.
- A bar of wood or metal dropped in horizontal hooks on a door and adjoining wall or between the two sides of a double door, to prevent the door(s) from being forced open.
- A sliding mechanism to chamber and unchamber a cartridge in a firearm.
- An iron to fasten the legs of a prisoner; a shackle; a fetter.
- A stalk or scape (of garlic, onion, etc).
- A large roll of fabric or similar material, as a bolt of cloth.
- The standard linear measurement of canvas for use at sea: 39 yards.
- Senses involving sudden movement
- A small personal-armour-piercing missile for short-range use, or (in common usage though deprecated by experts) a short arrow, intended to be shot from a crossbow or a catapult.
- A lightning spark, i.e., a lightning bolt. (See thunderbolt.)
verb
- To connect or assemble pieces using a bolt.
- To affix in a crude or unnatural manner.
- To secure a door by locking or barring it.
- To flee, to depart, to accelerate away suddenly.
- To escape.
- To cause to start or spring forth; to dislodge (an animal being hunted).
- To strike or fall suddenly like a bolt.
- To produce flower stalks and flowers or seeds quickly or prematurely; to form a bolt (stalk or scape); to go to seed.
- To swallow food without chewing it.
- To drink one's drink very quickly; to down a drink.
- To refuse to support a nomination made by a party or caucus with which one has been connected; to break away from a party.
- To utter precipitately; to blurt or throw out.
adv
- Suddenly; straight; unbendingly.
verb
- To sift, especially through a cloth.
- To sift the bran and germ from wheat flour.
- To separate, assort, refine, or purify by other means.
- To discuss or argue privately, and for practice, as cases at law.
noun
- A sieve, especially a long fine sieve used in milling for bolting flour and meal; a bolter.
name
- A surname transferred from the nickname.
- A census-designated place in Raleigh County, West Virginia, United States, named after an early postmaster.
- An unincorporated community in the town of Franklin, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, United States.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
From Middle English bolt, from Old English bolt, from Proto-West Germanic *bolt, from Proto-Germanic *bultaz, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeld- (“to knock, strike”). Compare Lithuanian beldu (“I knock”), baldas (“pole for striking”). Akin to Dutch and West Frisian bout, German Bolz or Bolzen, Danish bolt, Swedish bult, Icelandic bolti. The association of thunder and lightning with 'bolts' is found back into prehistory in many cultures, at least in Eurasia. It comes from the long-standing widespread belief that lightning was caused by bolts, darts, or stones hurtling down from the sky to the earth. This belief was still regarded as commonplace until at least 1929.
Related words
Derived words
Translations
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.