bolt

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a sudden abandonment, as from a political party

   After last year's loss, the whole team bolted.

2. 2
   verb

   to make or roll into bolts

   I bolted the fabric.

3. 3
   verb

   to eat hastily without proper chewing

   Don't bolt your food!

4. 4
   verb

   to swallow hastily

   They bolted their dinner before leaving for the evening.

5. 5
   verb

   to secure or lock with a bolt

   I bolted the door before going to bed.

6. 6
   verb

   to move or jump suddenly

   I bolted from my seat.

7. 7
   verb

   to leave suddenly and as if in a hurry

   The listeners bolted when they discussed strange ideas.

8. 8
   verb

   to run away

   The horse bolted after being frightened by a loud noise.

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…