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Verb: bolt  bówlt
  1. Move or jump suddenly
    "She bolted from her seat"
     
  2. Secure or lock with a bolt
    "bolt the door"
     
  3. Swallow hastily
     
  4. Run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along
    "the accountant bolted with the cash from the safe";
    - abscond, absquatulate [N. Amer], decamp, run off, go off, make off, make away
     
  5. Leave suddenly and as if in a hurry
    "The listeners bolted when he discussed his strange ideas"; "When she started to tell silly stories, I bolted out";
    - run off, run out, bolt out, beetle off
     
  6. Eat hastily without proper chewing
    "Don't bolt your food!";
    - gobble
     
  7. Make or roll into bolts
    "bolt fabric"
Noun: bolt  bówlt
  1. A discharge of lightning accompanied by thunder
    - thunderbolt, bolt of lightning
     
  2. A sliding bar in a breech-loading firearm that ejects an empty cartridge and replaces it and closes the breech
     
  3. The part of a lock that is engaged or withdrawn with a key
    - deadbolt
     
  4. The act of moving with great haste
    "he made a bolt for the door";
    - dash
     
  5. A roll of cloth or wallpaper of a definite length
     
  6. A screw that screws into a nut to form a fastener
     
  7. A sudden abandonment (as from a political party)
Adverb: bolt  bówlt
  1. In a rigid manner
    "he sat bolt upright";
    - rigidly, stiffly
     
  2. Directly
    - bang, slap, slapdash, smack [informal]

Derived forms: bolts, bolting, bolted

See also: bolt down [informal]

Type of: abandonment, bar, cut and run [informal], desertion, eat, flee, fly, forsaking, furl, get down, go away, go forth, haste, hurry, leave, lightning, lock, move, off [informal], roll, roll up, rush, rushing, screw, swallow, take flight

Antonym: unbolt

Part of: lock, nut and bolt, rifle

Encyclopedia: Bolt, Thomas