unbolt
Americanverb (used with object)
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to open (a door, window, etc.) by or as if by removing a bolt; unlock; unfasten.
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to release, as by the removal of threaded bolts.
He unscrewed the nuts and unbolted the inspection cover.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to unfasten a bolt of (a door)
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to undo (the nut) on a bolt
Etymology
Origin of unbolt
Explanation
When you unbolt something, you unfasten its lock. Unbolt the gate so I can put my bike away! When you open the particular type of lock called a bolt, you unbolt it. Turn a key or latch in your front door to slide the bolt closed, and you bolt the door. Slide it open, and you unbolt it. This verb comes from the prefix un- ("reversal") and bolt, a word that's been used to mean "part of a lock which springs out" since around 1400.
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.
Wiseman then switched to a ratchet wrench to unbolt the failed device, known as a sequential shunt unit, or SSU.
From Reuters • Oct. 15, 2014
“What if I found a way to unbolt the metal screens and crawl through the fan ducts into your cell, would you let me do it?”
From Salon • Mar. 19, 2014
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service could not cut the spike as it was too thick, opting instead to unbolt it.
From BBC • Mar. 4, 2014
Grissom, White and Chaffee tried — briefly — to unbolt the hatch, but they were quickly overcome.
From Time • Jan. 28, 2011
She dared not try to unbolt the great front door but instead tiptoed cautiously through the cold company room into the back chamber and let herself out the shed door into the garden.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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.
