bootstrap
Americannoun
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a loop of leather or cloth sewn at the top rear, or sometimes on each side, of a boot to facilitate pulling it on.
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a means of advancing oneself or accomplishing something.
He used his business experience as a bootstrap to win voters.
adjective
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relying entirely on one's efforts and resources.
The business was a bootstrap operation for the first ten years.
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self-generating or self-sustaining.
a bootstrap process.
verb (used with object)
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Computers. boot.
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to help (oneself) without the aid of others.
She spent years bootstrapping herself through college.
idioms
noun
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a leather or fabric loop on the back or side of a boot for pulling it on
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by one's own efforts; unaided
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(modifier) self-acting or self-sufficient, as an electronic amplifier that uses its output voltage to bias its input
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Also: boot. a technique for loading the first few program instructions into a computer main store to enable the rest of the program to be introduced from an input device
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( as modifier )
a bootstrap loader
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commerce an offer to purchase a controlling interest in a company, esp with the intention of purchasing the remainder of the equity at a lower price
verb
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to set up or achieve (something) using minimal resources
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(foll by to) to attach (something) to a larger or more important thing
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bootstrapsimple
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bootstrapssimple
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have bootstrappedperfect
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has bootstrappedperfect
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am bootstrappingprogressive
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are bootstrappingprogressive
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is bootstrappingprogressive
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have been bootstrappingperfect progressive
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has been bootstrappingperfect progressive
Past
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bootstrappedsimple
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had bootstrappedperfect
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was bootstrappingprogressive
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were bootstrappingprogressive
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had been bootstrappingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bootstrap
Vocabulary lists containing bootstrap
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"The deep irony is that this bootstrap idea that we're pursuing now with modern tools and modern ideas is super retro. It's an old idea," Cheung explains.
From Science Daily ● May 19, 2026
In science-fiction scenarios of first contact with extraterrestrials, humans usually bootstrap a common language with mathematics, demonstrating that we know the digits of pi and so forth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
SilverSneakers represents just a small slice of that — the costs are not broken out by MedPAC — but it’s significant enough that the bootstrap venture has turned into a big business.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2025
I think she is deeply wrong to let the tobacco company bootstrap these gas stations onto their suit.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2025
A person who pulls himself up from a low environment via the bootstrap route has two choices.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
He had no experience in elected office, no notable history of activist organizing, no college degree, no significant success in the private sector, not even a record of pulling himself up by his proverbial bootstraps.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
Those who pull themselves up by the bootstraps should be able to attain a life materially more comfortable than their parents’.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
Pulling up your bootstraps and spraying some tough on it is important.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2025
“You’ve got to pick up the bootstraps of your state until your state finally cares for all of its families,” Becerra said.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 2024
American autobiographical literature is filled with numerous accounts of remarkable men who pulled themselves to the summit by their bootstraps.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
But he’s bootstrapped himself into intelligence and with savvy networking and know-how, he becomes indispensable to the British, volunteering as a major to survey land and negotiate treaties with the Native tribes and French army.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Migrating to another cloud provider or implementing a multi-cloud strategy would likely be too costly for a bootstrapped startup like his.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 22, 2025
Directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, the bootstrapped, lo-fi documentary was a smash hit, grossing more than $22 million on a $65,000 budget.
From New York Times ● May 12, 2024
But many of these smaller livestream channels are more bootstrapped operations, adherent to the same grind culture their content facilitates.
From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2023
“When we first started during the pandemic, we were entirely bootstrapped and still working other full-time jobs, while doing our best to keep up with the growth of Locale,” Clark said.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 29, 2022
Putting aside the chutzpah of the bootstrapping, it’s not clear that the court is wrong.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
Enter Dell Chandler, a failed English professor turned bootstrapping private detective, hired by Dr. Cutty to investigate.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
It’s a quintessential American story, of bootstrapping from the humblest of origins to the literal highest of heights.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2023
In the book you brought up "Little House on the Prairie," which is a narrative that speaks very specifically to the ways in which bootstrapping looks different to girls, and from a very young age.
From Salon ● Apr. 1, 2023
He had worked as a printer but was now bootstrapping his own print shop on a shoestring, and became entirely self-employed.
From How and When to Be Your Own Doctor by Solomon, Steve
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
