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bolt2

Pronunciation: /bəʊlt/

Translate bolt | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of bolt

verb

  • 1 [no object] (of a horse or other animal) run away suddenly, typically from fear:the horses shied and bolted
  • [no object, with adverbial of direction] (of a person) move or run away suddenly in an attempt to escape:they bolted down the stairs
  • [with object] (in hunting) cause (a rabbit or fox) to run from its burrow or hole: a ferret progresses through the holes bolting rabbits the rabbits can be bolted out
  • (of a plant) grow quickly upwards and stop flowering as seeds develop:the lettuces have bolted
  • 2 [with object] eat (food) quickly:there’s no need to bolt your food

Phrases

make a bolt for

try to escape by moving suddenly towards (something):Ellie made a bolt for the door

Origin:

Middle English: from bolt1, expressing the sense 'fly like an arrow'

bolt in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of bolt in the US English dictionary

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