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bolt1

Pronunciation: /bəʊlt/
Translate bolt | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of bolt

noun

  • 1a large metal pin, in particular:
  • a bar that slides into a socket to fasten a door or window.
  • a long pin with a head that screws into a nut, used to fasten things together.
  • the sliding piece of the breech mechanism of a rifle.
  • Climbing a long pin that is driven into a rock face so that a rope can be attached to it.
  • 2a short, heavy arrow shot from a crossbow.
  • 3a jagged white flash of lightning.

verb

[with object]
  • fasten with a bolt, in particular:
  • fasten (a door or window) with a bar that slides into a socket: all the doors were locked and bolted
  • [with object and adverbial of place] fasten (something) to something else with a long pin that screws into a nut:the lid was bolted down figurativenew benefits have been bolted on to the social security system

Phrases

a bolt from (or out of) the blue

a sudden and unexpected event:the job came like a bolt from the blue
[with reference to the unlikelihood of a thunderbolt coming from a clear blue sky]

bolt upright

with the back very straight: she sat bolt upright in bed

have shot one's bolt

informal have done all that is in one’s power: Jean had shot her bolt as far as her Italian was concerned

Origin:

Old English, 'arrow', of unknown origin; related to Dutch bout and German Bolzen 'arrow, bolt for a door'

bolt in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of bolt in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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