Definition of "bolt"

bolt¹

/bɒlt/

noun
plural bolts
1. 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.
2. A sliding pin or bar in a lock or latch mechanism.
  Quotations
  There was the noise of a bolt shot back, and the door opened a few inches, enough to show a long snout and a pair of sleepy blinking eyes.
  1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, “Mr. Badger”, in The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, page 69
3. 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.
4. (military, mechanical engineering) A sliding mechanism to chamber and unchamber a cartridge in a firearm.
5. 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.
6. A lightning spark, i.e., a lightning bolt.
7. A sudden event, action or emotion.
  Quotations
  With a bolt of fright he remembered that there was no bathroom in the Hobhouse Room. He leapt along the corridor in a panic, stopping by the long-case clock at the end where he flattened himself against the wall.
  1994, Stephen Fry, chapter 2, in The Hippopotamus
8. A large roll of fabric or similar material, as a bolt of cloth.
  Quotations
  Mr. Cole, Basket-maker...has lost near 300 boults of rods
  1774 March 24, Stamford Mercury‎
  Not only were the old sails being mended, but new sails were coming on board, and bolts of canvas, and coils of rigging; in short, everything betokened that the ship's preparations were hurrying to a close.
  1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “All Astir”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, page 106
  1. (nautical) The standard linear measurement of canvas for use at sea: 39 yards.
9. A sudden spring or start; a sudden leap aside.
10. A sudden flight, as to escape creditors.
  Quotations
  This gentleman was so hopelessly involved that he contemplated a bolt to America — or anywhere.
  1887, Charles Reade, Compton Reade, Charles Reade, Dramatist, Novelist, Journalist: A Memoir
11. (US, politics) A refusal to support a nomination made by the party with which one has been connected; a breaking away from one's party.
12. An iron to fasten the legs of a prisoner; a shackle; a fetter.
  Quotations
  He shall to prison, and there die in boults.
  1594 (first publication), Christopher Marlow[e], The Trovblesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edvvard the Second, King of England: […], London: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, (please specify the page)
  Away with him to prison! Lay bolts enough upon him:
  c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene i]
13. A burst of speed or efficiency.
  Quotations
  In the event they lacked a proper midfield bolt, with Toni Kroos and Sami Khedira huffing around in pursuit of the whizzing green machine. The centre-backs looked flustered, left to deal with three on two as Mexico broke. Löw’s 4-2-3-1 seemed antiquated and creaky, with the old World Cup shark Thomas Müller flat-footed in a wide position.
  2018 June 17, Barney Ronay, “Mexico’s Hirving Lozano stuns world champions Germany for brilliant win”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, archived from the original on 5 August 2019
14. A stalk or scape (of garlic, onion, etc).
  Quotations
  All kinds of vegetables may be used as a topping, but the best are strongly flavoured ones without too much moisture, such as celery, garlic bolts, chives, scallions, or various beans (long beans, green beans etc.) ...
  2013, Wong Yoon Wah, Durians Are Not the Only Fruit: Notes from the Tropics, Epigram Books
  She ordered Cat's Ear Noodles heaped with garlic bolts and tomatoes, the broth thick with cumin, laced with black vinegar. The girl caught her accent, the sibilant sing-song of the south, and smiled, tilting her head questioningly.
  2017, Adam Brookes, The Spy's Daughter, Redhook
verb
third-person singular simple present bolts, present participle bolting, simple past and past participle bolted
1. (transitive) To connect or assemble pieces using a bolt.
2. (transitive) To secure a door by locking or barring it.
  Quotations
  If that double-bolted land, Japan, is ever to become hospitable, it is the whale-ship alone to whom the credit will be due; for already she is on the threshold.
  1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Advocate”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, page 122
3. (intransitive) To flee, to depart, to accelerate suddenly.
  Quotations
  This Pucke ſeems but a dreaming dolt, / Still vvalking like a ragged Colt, / And oft out of a buſh doth bolt, / Of purpoſe to deceiue vs, / And leading vs makes vs to ſtray.
  1627, Michaell Drayton [i.e., Michael Drayton], “Nimphidia. The Court of Fayrie.”, in The Battaile of Agincourt. […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for VVilliam Lee, […], published 1631, page 178
  Bradly was embarrassed, detected in the character of a snooper. But he had to come on, short of bolting back in his tracks.
  1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, page 87
4. (transitive) To cause to start or spring forth; to dislodge (an animal being hunted).
5. To strike or fall suddenly like a bolt.
  Quotations
  His cloudleſs thunder bolted on thir heads.
  1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], page 98
6. (intransitive) To escape.
7. (intransitive, botany, of lettuce, spinach, garlic, onion, etc) To produce flower stalks and flowers or seeds quickly or prematurely; to form a bolt (stalk or scape); to go to seed.
  Quotations
  When an onion bolts and forms a flower stalk, the stem grows right up through the neck, forming a tough, fibrous tube that pierces the center of the bulb. The plant channels all its energy into this flower stalk, so no more fleshy […]
  1982, Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, Diane E. Bilderback, Garden Secrets: A Guide to Understanding how Your Garden Grows and how You Can Help it Grow Even Better
  To be honest, this hasn't been my Garden of Eden year. […] The lettuce turned bitter and bolted. The Green Comet broccoli was good, but my coveted Romanescos never headed up.
  1995, Anne Raver, “Gandhi Gardening”, in Deep in the Green: An Exploration of Country Pleasures, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf
  Hardneck garlic bolts, which means it produces a single flower stalk, also known as a scape. It is considered to be far tastier and “gourmet.” You can find hardneck garlic mainly at farmers' markets […]
  2011, Trina Clickner, A Miscellany of Garlic: From Paying Off Pyramids and Scaring Away Tigers to Inspiring Courage and Curing Hiccups, the Unusual Power Behind the World's Most Humble Vegetable, Simon and Schuster
8. (transitive) To swallow food without chewing it.
  Quotations
  Though amid all the smoking horror and diabolism of a sea-fight, sharks will be seen longingly gazing up to the ship’s decks, like hungry dogs round a table where red meat is being carved, ready to bolt down every killed man that is tossed to them;
  1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 64, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, page 327
  Some hawks and owls bolt their prey whole, and after an interval of from twelve to twenty hours, disgorge pellets, which, as I know from experiments made in the Zoological Gardens, include seeds capable of germination.
  1859 November 24, Charles Darwin, “Geographical Distribution”, in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, […], London: John Murray, […], page 362
9. (transitive) To drink one's drink very quickly; to down a drink.
10. (US, politics) To refuse to support a nomination made by a party or caucus with which one has been connected; to break away from a party.
11. To utter precipitately; to blurt or throw out.
  Quotations
  I hate when vice can bolt her arguments.
  1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, page 26, line 760
adverb
not comparable
1. Suddenly; straight; unbendingly.
  Quotations
  [He] came bolt up against the heavy dragoon.
  1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850

bolt²

/bɒlt/

verb
third-person singular simple present bolts, present participle bolting, simple past and past participle bolted
1. To sift, especially through a cloth.
2. To sift the bran and germ from wheat flour.
3. To separate, assort, refine, or purify by other means.
  Quotations
  ill schooled in bolted language
  c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene i]
  Time and Nature will Bolt out the Truth of Things.
  1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […]
4. (law) To discuss or argue privately, and for practice, as cases at law.
  Quotations
  […] the old habits of mooting or bolting caſes (i.e. of public disputations), might make the ſtudent more ſubtle and acute
  1781, “The History and Antiquities of the Four Inns of Court”, in The Monthly Review
noun
plural bolts
1. A sieve, especially a long fine sieve used in milling for bolting flour and meal; a bolter.
  Quotations
  The combination, in a flour bolt, of a reel head having a throat near its outer edge for the passage of the tailings and a series of revolving adjustable beaters, substantially as set forth.
  1885, Canada. Patent Office, The Canadian Patent Office Record and Register of Copyrights and Trade Marks, page 279
  We have a number of these reels in different mills that are bolting the break flour direct from the scalping reels and scalped through No. 8 cloth. […] Now, gentlemen, they require a much less number to do a given amount of work than any other known machine or bolt, and require less space and power.
  1886, The Mechanical News, page 120
  As the material is agitated by the motion of the bolt, the flour falls through, while the smaller particles of bran are taken up by the current of air and carried off.
  1896, United States. Patent Office, Decisions of the Commissioner of Patents and of the United States Courts in Patent and Trade-mark and Copyright Cases., page 493

Definition of "bolt"

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