What does "bolter" mean?
A person or thing that bolts, or runs suddenly.
Bolter
/ˈbɒltə/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A person or thing that bolts, or runs suddenly.
- Grammar: bolter is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: apostate, colander, collaborator, convert.
- Useful contrasts: trap.
- Usage evidence: 1992 June, Bill Tarrant, Gun Dogs: Problems with a Hunting Pattern, Field & Stream, page 104, Bolting can be one of the worst problems in dogdom to solve. We′ve all seen a bolter — or rather, we haven't seen him. We released him to hunt, and he was gone for the day, the week, the month. I′ve known of bolters to be gone for years.
How to use "bolter"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "bolter" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "bolter" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "bolter" as the right word for your sentence.
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "bolter" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "apostate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person or thing that bolts, or runs suddenly.
"1992 June, Bill Tarrant, Gun Dogs: Problems with a Hunting Pattern, Field & Stream, page 104, Bolting can be one of the worst problems in dogdom to solve. We′ve all seen a bolter — or rather, we haven't seen him. We released him to hunt, and he was gone for the day, the week, the month. I′ve known of bolters to be gone for years."
- 2 A plant that grows larger and more rapidly than usual.
"Evidence is accumulating that bolters are plants which have changed their long-day habit to that of short-day."
- 3 A machine or mechanism that automatically sifts milled flour.
"The bolter was basically a sheet or roll of wire mesh or cloth (most often canvas or linen, but sometimes silk or another fabric). The flour produced by the mill was fed through or over the device, which was shaken by a mechanism (several were possible) taking power from the drive train leading from the water wheel to the millstones."
- 4 A person who sifts flour or meal.
- 5 A filter mechanism.
"This first bolter contains a screen of eight meshes to the inch and separates the hard particles, dirt or scale."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 An obscure athlete who wins an upset victory. Australia
"Last year he was eliminated by the bolter Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and this time he was beaten by the shining star, Fernando Verdasco."
- 7 A horse that wins at long odds. Australia
- 8 In team sports, a relatively little-known or inexperienced player who inspires the team to greater success. New-Zealand
- 9 A member of a political party who does not support the party's nominee. US
"The bolters from the Republican convention say, in their manifesto: "Discontent and distress prevail to an extent never before known in the history of the country.""
- 10 A missed landing on an aircraft carrier; an aircraft that has made a missed landing.
- 11 A kind of fishing line; a boulter.
- 12 Someone who equips a sport route by putting bolts in the rock.
Verb
- 1 To smear or become smeared with a grimy substance. dialectal
"Methinks I see them with their boltered hair, Staring and grinning in thy gentle face, And in their ruthless hands their daggers drawn,"
- 2 To sift or filter through a sieve or bolter.
"A thousand times the day, our Sieve is crowned; A thousand times 'tis drained: Let the Sieve once he strained, And, grain by grain, around Ye shall behold the ground Covered with folk, cast from the boltering Sieve."
- 3 To fish using a bolter.
"Those who are not boltering or spillering in the spring are crabbing."
- 4 To pound rapidly.
"In Elliotson v. Feetham, 2 Bingham's N.C., 134, in 1835, the plaintiff a physician resideing in the parish of St. George, Hanover Square, in the county of Middlesex, and possessed of a house for a term of years, sued the defendant in case for a nuisance in carrying on an iron-mongery factory, "making divers large fires, and also divers loud, heavy, jarring, varying, agitating, hammering, and boltering sounds and noises.”"
- 5 To swim or turn sideways while eating.
"Close observers of the habits of whales in more recent times however do not record this practice and it must be regarded as a fanciful belief which probably arose as Gunther (1949) suggests as a fisherman's explanation of the patches and their frequent association with boltering whales."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To miss a landing on an aircraft carrier by failing to catch the arresting gear wires with the aircraft's tailhook.
"Commander Kleemann came back and boltered again on his second attempt. lt is unheard of for him to bolter twice in a row. Then on his third attempt he got aboard with an OK three-wire trap."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname originating as an occupation.
Antonyms
Example
"1992 June, Bill Tarrant, Gun Dogs: Problems with a Hunting Pattern, Field & Stream, page 104, Bolting can be one of the worst problems in dogdom to solve. We′ve all seen a bolter — or rather, we haven't seen him. We released him to hunt, and he was gone for the day, the week, the month. I′ve known of bolters to be gone for years."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "bolter"?
Common synonyms include: apostate, colander, collaborator, convert, defector, deserter.
How do you use "bolter" in a sentence?
1992 June, Bill Tarrant, Gun Dogs: Problems with a Hunting Pattern, Field & Stream, page 104, Bolting can be one of the worst problems in dogdom to solve. We′ve all seen a bolter — or rather, we haven't seen him. We released him to hunt, and he was gone for the day, the week, the month. I′ve known of bolters to be gone for years.
How do you pronounce "bolter"?
Pronounced /ˈbɒltə/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From bolt + -er.
Etymology 2
From bolter, an occupational surname for a sifter of flour, or for a maker of bolts.