bootstrap
noun
a loop of leather or cloth sewn at the top rear, or sometimes on each side, of a boot to facilitate pulling it on.
bootstrapped
-
past participleof bootstrap.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
-
past tense formof bootstrap.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
bootstrapnouna loop of leather or cloth sewn at the top rear, or sometimes on each side, of a boot to facilitate pulling it on.
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.
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
He bootstrapped that company and sold it for over $100 million in 2021.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
The sale, announced last week, caps an impressive career by Ng, a scrappy, diminutive septuagenarian who used her bootstrapped community newspapers “to empower the Asian American community” as she put it this week.
From Seattle Times ● May 29, 2024
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
