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boot1

Pronunciation: /buːt/

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

noun

  • 1a sturdy item of footwear covering the foot and ankle, and sometimes also the lower leg:a pair of walking boots
  • a covering to protect the lower part of a horse’s leg.
  • historical an instrument of torture encasing and crushing the foot.
  • USshort for Denver boot.
  • 2 informal a hard kick:he got a boot in the stomach
  • 3British an enclosed space at the back of a car for carrying luggage or other goods.
  • 4 (also boot-up) [usually as modifier] the process of starting a computer and putting it into a state of readiness for operation:a boot disk

verb

[with object]
  • 1 [with object and adverbial of direction] kick (something) hard in a specified direction:he ended up booting the ball into the stand
  • (boot someone off) informal force someone to leave a vehicle unceremoniously:a guard booted two children off a train
  • (boot someone out) informal force someone to leave a place or job unceremoniously:she had been booted out of school
  • 2start (a computer) and put it into a state of readiness for operation:the menu will be ready as soon as you boot up your computer [no object]:the system won’t boot from the original drive
    [from bootstrap (sense 2 of the noun)]
  • 3US place a wheel clamp on (an illegally parked car): once a car is booted, the owner must pay all fines plus a fee to have the boot removed

Phrases

the boot (or North American shoe) is on the other foot

the situation, in particular the holding of advantage, has reversed: the reorganization means the boot is now on the other foot

boots and all

Australian/NZ informal with no holds barred; wholeheartedly:Canberra’s cabbies go in boots and all for a fair deal

boots on the ground

informal ground troops who are on active service in a military operation:they could have gone to their allies and got more boots on the ground while he backs high-tech warfare, he also sees boots on the ground as essential

die with one's boots on

die in battle or while actively occupied: Bill had died with his boots on, caught by suction in a waste pipe

get the boot

informal be dismissed from one’s job.

give someone the boot

informal dismiss someone from their job: the chairman denied he had been given the boot

old boot

informal an ugly or disliked old woman.

put the boot in (or into someone)

British informal
kick someone hard when they are on the ground: they crash his bulk to the floor and put the boot in
treat someone vulnerable in a cruel way: the move was just another way of putting the boot in

with one's heart in one's boots

in a state of great depression or trepidation: I had to follow her with my heart in my boots

you (can) bet your boots

informal used to express absolute certainty:you can bet your boots that the patrol has raised the alarm

Derivatives

booted

adjective
boot1 (sense 1 of the noun), boot1 (sense 3 of the noun).

Origin:

Middle English: from Old Norse bóti or its source, Old French bote, of unknown ultimate origin

boot in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of boot in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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