Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Language: Old English
Origin: 'short arrow'

bolt

1 noun
     
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bolt1 [countable]
1

lock

DH a metal bar that you slide across a door or window to fasten it
bolt
2

screw

TD a screw with a flat head and no point, for fastening things together
3

a bolt from (out of) the blue

news that is sudden and unexpected:
Was this money a bolt from the blue or did you know you were going to get it?
4

bolt of lightning

DN lightning that appears as a white line in the sky:
There's not much left of his house after it was struck by a bolt of lightning.
 ➔ thunderbolt
5

make a bolt for it

British English to suddenly try to escape from somewhere:
They attacked the driver and he straightaway made a bolt for it.
6

weapon

PMW a short heavy arrow that is fired from a crossbow
7

cloth

TIM a large long roll of cloth

➔ have shot your bolt

at shoot1 (24)

; ➔ the nuts and bolts of something

at nut1 (6)
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
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