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boot1

[boot]
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noun
  1. a covering of leather, rubber, or the like, for the foot and all or part of the leg.
  2. Chiefly British. any shoe or outer foot covering reaching to the ankle.
  3. an overshoe, especially one of rubber or other waterproof material.
  4. an instrument of torture for the leg, consisting of a kind of vise extending from the knee to the ankle, tightened around the leg by means of screws.
  5. any sheathlike protective covering: a boot for a weak automobile tire.
  6. a protective covering for the foot and part of the leg of a horse.
  7. a protecting cover or apron for the driver's seat of an open vehicle.
  8. the receptacle or place into which the top of a convertible car fits when lowered.
  9. a cloth covering for this receptacle or place.
  10. British. the trunk of an automobile.
  11. a rubber covering for the connection between each spark-plug terminal and ignition cable in an automotive ignition system.
  12. Also called Denver boot. a metal device attached to the wheel of a parked car so that it cannot be driven away until a fine is paid or the owner reports to the police: used by police to catch scofflaws.
  13. U.S. Navy, Marines. a recruit.
  14. Music. the box that holds the reed in the reed pipe of an organ.
  15. a kick.
  16. Slang. a dismissal; discharge: They gave him the boot for coming in late.
  17. Informal. a sensation of pleasure or amusement: Watching that young skater win a gold medal gave me a real boot.
  18. Baseball. a fumble of a ball batted on the ground, usually to the infield.
  19. Computers. an act or instance of starting up a computer or program.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to kick; drive by kicking: The boy booted a tin can down the street.
  2. Football. to kick.
  3. Baseball. to fumble (a ground ball).
  4. to put boots on; equip or provide with boots.
  5. Computers.
    1. to start (a computer) by loading and initializing the operating system (often followed by up).
    2. to start (a program) by loading the first few instructions, which will then bring in the rest (often followed by up).
  6. Slang. to dismiss; discharge: They booted him out of school for not studying.
  7. to attach a Denver boot to: Police will boot any car with unpaid fines.
  8. to torture with the boot.
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verb (used without object)
  1. Computers. to start a computer or program, or be started in this way (often followed by up): My laptop won't boot and shows a blank screen.
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Idioms
  1. bet your boots, to be sure or certain: You can bet your boots that I'll be there!
  2. die with one's boots on,
    1. to die while actively engaged in one's work, profession, etc.
    2. to die fighting, especially in battle, or in some worthy cause.
    Also especially British, die in one's boots.
  3. get a boot, Informal. to derive keen enjoyment: I really got a boot out of his ridiculous stories.
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Origin of boot1

1275–1325; Middle English bote < Anglo-French, Old French; of uncertain origin

boot2

[boot]
noun
  1. Archaic. something given into the bargain.
  2. Obsolete.
    1. advantage.
    2. remedy; relief; help.
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verb (used with or without object)
  1. Archaic. to be of profit, advantage, or avail (to): It boots thee not to complain.
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Idioms
  1. to boot, in addition; besides: We received an extra week's pay to boot.
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Origin of boot2

before 1000; Middle English bote, Old English bōt advantage; cognate with Dutch boete, German Busse, Old Norse bōt, Gothic bota; see bet1, better1

boot3

[boot]
noun Archaic.
  1. booty; spoil; plunder.
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Origin of boot3

1585–95; special use of boot2 by association with booty1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

footwear, knock, shove, eject, expel, bounce, evict, reset, reboot, oxford, brogan, galoshes, waders, cut, fire, dismiss, terminate, chuck, sack

Examples from the Web for boot

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I'll trade this chestnut—and he's a fine traveler—with a good price to boot.

  • But this time he saw only the foot of the woman clad in a man's boot.

  • So saying, he thrust his boot into the snow, intending to kick it over the girl.

    Rico and Wiseli

    Johanna Spyri

  • "It wasn't anything," said Grant shortly, tugging at a boot.

    Good Indian

    B. M. Bower

  • As well try to mend a spider's web when you have put your boot through it.

British Dictionary definitions for boot

boot1

noun
  1. a strong outer covering for the foot; shoe that extends above the ankle, often to the kneeSee also chukka boot, top boot, Wellington boots, surgical boot
  2. an enclosed compartment of a car for holding luggage, etc, usually at the rearUS and Canadian name: trunk
  3. a protective covering over a mechanical device, such as a rubber sheath protecting a coupling joining two shafts
  4. US and Canadian a rubber patch used to repair a puncture in a tyre
  5. an instrument of torture used to crush the foot and lower leg
  6. a protective covering for the lower leg of a horse
  7. a kickhe gave the door a boot
  8. British slang an ugly person (esp in the phrase old boot)
  9. US slang a navy or marine recruit, esp one in training
  10. computing short for bootstrap (def. 4a)
  11. bet one's boots to be certainyou can bet your boots he'll come
  12. See boots and all
  13. die with one's boots on
    1. to die while still active
    2. to die in battle
  14. lick the boots of to be servile, obsequious, or flattering towards
  15. put the boot in slang
    1. to kick a person, esp when he or she is already down
    2. to harass someone or aggravate a problem
    3. to finish off (something) with unnecessary brutality
  16. the boot slang dismissal from employment; the sack
  17. the boot is on the other foot or the boot is on the other leg the situation is or has now reversed
  18. too big for one's boots self-important or conceited
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verb
  1. (tr) (esp in football) to kick
  2. (tr) to equip with boots
  3. (tr) informal
    1. (often foll by out)to eject forcibly
    2. to dismiss from employment
  4. Also: boot up to start up the operating system of (a computer) or (of a computer) to begin operating
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See also boots

Word Origin

C14 bote, from Old French, of uncertain origin

boot2

verb (usually impersonal)
  1. archaic to be of advantage or use to (a person)what boots it to complain?
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noun
  1. obsolete an advantage
  2. dialect something given in addition, esp to equalize an exchangea ten pound boot to settle the bargain
  3. to boot as well; in additionit's cold and musty, and damp to boot
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Word Origin

Old English bōt compensation; related to Old Norse bōt remedy, Gothic bōta, Old High German buoza improvement
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for boot

n.1

footwear, early 14c., from Old French bote "boot" (12c.), with corresponding words in Provençal and Spanish, of unknown origin, perhaps from a Germanic source. Originally for riding boots only. An old Dorsetshire word for "half-boots" was skilty-boots [Halliwell, Wright].

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n.2

"profit, use," Old English bot "help, relief, advantage; atonement," literally "a making better," from Proto-Germanic *boto (see better (adj.)). Cf. German Buße "penance, atonement," Gothic botha "advantage." Now mostly in phrase to boot (Old English to bote).

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v.2

"start up a computer," 1975, from bootstrap (v.), a 1958 derived verb from bootstrap (n.) in the computer sense.

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v.1

"to kick," 1877, American English, from boot (n.1). Generalized sense of "eject, kick out" is from 1880. Related: Booted; booting.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with boot

boot

In addition to the idioms beginning with boot

  • boot out
  • boot up

also see:

  • die with one's boots on
  • get the ax (boot)
  • kick (boot) out
  • lick someone's boots
  • pull oneself up (by the bootstraps)
  • quake in one's boots
  • to boot
  • too big for one's breeches (boots)
  • you can bet your ass (boots)

Also see undershoe.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.