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
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unboltsimple
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unboltssimple
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have unboltedperfect
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has unboltedperfect
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am unboltingprogressive
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are unboltingprogressive
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is unboltingprogressive
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have been unboltingperfect progressive
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has been unboltingperfect progressive
Past
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unboltedsimple
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had unboltedperfect
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was unboltingprogressive
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were unboltingprogressive
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had been unboltingperfect progressive
Future
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.
After collecting their tools and making their way to the right-side exterior truss, the astronauts had just 35 minutes to unbolt the failed unit and install the replacement.
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
When they reached the very bottom and the wall rose frowning above them, Lasaraleen was shaking so that she could not unbolt the gate.
From "The Horse and His Boy" by C.S. Lewis
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.
