Bolt

How to spell bolt

4 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce bolt

What does bolt mean?

1. nounA metal pin or threaded rod used with a nut to fasten things, or a sliding bar that secures a door.
2. verbTo run away or move suddenly and very fast.
3. nounA single flash or shaft of lightning.

Bolt in a sentence

• noun

  He tightened each bolt on the bicycle wheel before the ride.

• verb

  The startled horse tried to bolt across the open field.

• noun

  A bolt of lightning lit up the whole valley for an instant.

• noun

  She slid the bolt across to lock the back door for the night.

• verb

  He had to bolt for the train when the meeting ran late.

• noun

  The old oak was split in two by a single bolt during the storm.

Where does bolt come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Bolt comes straight from the Old English bolt, which named a short, heavy arrow shot from a crossbow. That same word existed in related Germanic languages, such as the Old High German bolz, all pointing back to a shared ancestor for a stout, blunt missile. Because a crossbow bolt was a short, thick shaft of metal or wood, the word naturally spread to other rod-like objects, giving us the sliding bar that secures a door and the threaded metal pin used with a nut. The sense of moving like a fired bolt, that is, suddenly and very fast, produced the verb meaning to dash away, while the idea of a flying shaft gave us the bolt of lightning. The spelling has stayed remarkably stable for over a thousand years, which is why this short, native word rarely trips anyone up.

How the word is built

• bolt (single Old English root, no affixes)