boot up

Idioms  

1. Start a computer, as in When you've booted up, it's best not to turn off the computer until you're done for the day. The term, dating from the late 1970s, was a shortening of bootstrap, another computer idiom referring to using one set of instructions to load another set of instructions. Also see log in.

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Example Sentences

So every day after school, I’d sprint down to my family’s basement and boot up our enormous Gateway 2000 computer.

From Slate • Aug. 12, 2025

These are the words that greet players when they boot up Abubakar Salim's debut video game - Tales of Kenzera: Zau.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2024

The region boasts the largest reserves of lithium in the world, which make up the lithium-ion batteries that boot up the electronic devices used by billions around the globe.

From National Geographic • Jan. 11, 2024

Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir offered no apologies for the collapse of the grid but lauded the nation’s engineers and technicians for their efforts to boot up the system.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 24, 2023

The computer would still boot up, but it couldn’t read the drive.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah