[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/bolt.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / bolt

[← B](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/B/)

# bolt

«bolt» in Mova's school dictionary: **a metal bar that slides across to lock a door or window** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a bolt, bolts); verb (bolt, bolts, bolted, bolting); adverb (bolt upright)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A bolt is a metal bar that slides across to lock a door or window. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#m1)

2) A bolt is a thick metal pin with a screw thread that goes with a nut to hold things together. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#m2)

3) A bolt of lightning is a flash of it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#m3)

4) To bolt is to run away suddenly, like a frightened horse. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#m4)

5) To bolt food is to eat it very fast. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#m5)

6) To bolt a door is to lock it with a bolt. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#m6)

7) A bolt can also be a short, heavy arrow shot from a crossbow. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#m7)

### sense in the lessons

In design and technology nuts and bolts hold parts together. In everyday life and safety: bolt the door at night; don't bolt your food or you might choke. In science lightning comes as bolts. In stories a horse bolts in fear; someone «sits bolt upright» (very straight, suddenly). Phrases: «a bolt from the blue» (a total surprise), «make a bolt for it» (run for it).

### examples

- Dad bolted the gate shut. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#x1)
- The horse bolted when it heard the thunder. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#x2)
- A bolt of lightning hit the tree. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#x3)
- Tighten the nut onto the bolt. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#x4)
- Don't bolt your dinner, chew it properly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#x5)
- She sat bolt upright when the alarm went off. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#x6)
- The news came like a bolt from the blue. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#x7)
- The bolt hits whatever the eye sees.” [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/#x8)

### note

Regular verb: bolted, bolting. A bolt has no point (a nut screws onto it); a screw has a point and goes into wood. Lettuce «bolts» when it grows a tall flower stalk too early.

### In the corpora

- [Leave a bike out in the rain all winter and its chain and bolts turn orange-brown and flaky.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chemistry/13-rust-irons-slow-fire/0/)
- [There are guards, lockers and plastic chairs bolted to the floor.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/519-parents-far-away-the-army-work-abroad-prison/28/)
- [Usain Bolt ran 100 m in 9.58 seconds in 2009, still the world record, about 10.4 metres every second.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/62-the-olympics-and-paralympics/8/)
- [Thunder rumbles because sound from different parts of the long lightning bolt reaches you at different times.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/physics/18-thunder-sirens-and-how-fast-sound-travels/8/)
- [For a split second a lightning bolt is hotter than the surface of the Sun.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/physics/26-static-electricity-balloons-hair-and-sparks/15/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «bolt» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/bolt/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.