bolt upright
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Actress Tuppence Middleton says she has "woken up bolt upright in the middle of the night" since rehearsals began for her latest play.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2023
However, there is one person who will bolt upright with alarm whenever I sneeze and exclaim, “Well, excuse you!” or, “Why didn’t you give us some warning?!” making everyone stare at me further.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 10, 2022
I sat bolt upright, moving my lips with nothing coming out.
From New York Times ● Jun. 5, 2022
I have watched Holmes sit bolt upright at the defense table as her lawyers slowly wilt.
From The Verge ● Dec. 9, 2021
When the man’s eyes struck him the boy stood bolt upright and his face frozed stiff as a stone!
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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.
