boot

A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg.

Noun

  1. A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg.

    1. (sports) A kind of sports shoe worn by players of certain games such as cricket and football (historically in the form of boots, now shorter, but still called the same).

  2. A blow with the foot; a kick.
  3. A flexible cover of rubber or plastic, which may be preformed to a particular shape and used to protect a shaft, lever, switch, or opening from dust, dirt, moisture, etc.
  4. Oppression, an oppressor.
    • Dr. Jayakar was not only one of them but was at places the prime mover in the historic decisions taken by a nation struggling to get free of the British boot. - 1958, Filmindia:
    • Never in its long history, and one rich with brutal inequities too, had Paris known the disgrace of seeing one section of its community prosper under the boot of an invader - 1989, Gilles Perrault, Pierre Azema, Paris...
    • Chronic unrest in Ireland, long under the British boot, was about to culminate in a popular rising. - 2013 October 8, Stanley Weintraub, Young Mr. Roosevelt: FDR's Introduction to War, Politics, and Life, Hachette UK,...
  5. A torture device used on the feet or legs, such as a Spanish boot.
    • The boot, thumbscrews, the shackles, and a contraption called the "warm hose", were only a few of the inflictions being too terrible to mention. - 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 221:
  6. A parking enforcement device used to immobilize a car until it can be towed or a fine is paid; a wheel clamp.
  7. A rubber bladder on the leading edge of an aircraft’s wing, which is inflated periodically to remove ice buildup; a deicing boot.
  8. A place at the side of a coach, where attendants rode; also, a low outside place before and behind the body of the coach.
  9. A place for baggage at either end of an old-fashioned stagecoach.
  10. The luggage storage compartment of a sedan or saloon car.
    • He heaved the bag and its contents over the lip of the boot and on to the flagstones. When it was out, no longer in that boot but on the ground, and the bag was still intact, he knew the worst was over. - 1998, Ruth...
    • The body is constructed of welded steel panels, with the bonnet, doors and boot lid in aluminium on steel frames. - 2003, Keith Bluemel, Original Ferrari V-12 1965-1973: The Restorer's Guide, unnumbered page:
    • Peers leant against the outside of the car a lit up her filter tip and watched as Bauer and Putin placed their compact suitcases in the boot of the BMW and slammed the boot lid down. - 2008, MB Chattelle, Richmond,...
  11. The act or process of removing or firing someone (dismissing them from a job or other post).
    • He was useless so he got the boot.
  12. An unattractive person, ugly woman.
    • old boot

Origin

From Middle English boote, bote (“shoe”), from Old French bote (“a high, thick shoe”). Of obscure origin, but probably related to Old French bot (“club-foot”), bot (“fat, short, blunt”), from Old Frankish *butt, from Proto-Germanic *buttaz, *butaz (“cut off, short, numb, blunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewt-, *bʰewd- (“to strike, push, shock”); if so, a doublet of butt. Compare Old Norse butt (“stump”), Low German butt (“blunt, plump”), Old English bytt (“small piece of land”), buttuc (“end”). More at buttock and debut.

Forms

boots

Synonyms

buskin mukluk kick trunk dicky wheel clamp firing layoff butt heel ender outsider

Derived

aguaro boot a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on ankle boot army boot Australian boot ballet boot Beatle boot boot and rally bootblack boot board boot-boy bootboy boot boy boot camp boot catcher boot closer boot crimp boot-cut boot cut boot cuts bootee boot fair bootful boot-grease

Noun archaic, countable

  1. Remedy, amends.
    • Thou art boot for many a bruise / And healest many a wound. - 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for...
    • next her Son, our soul's best boot - 1820, William Wordsworth, The Prioress' Tale (from Chaucer):
  2. Profit, plunder.
  3. That which is given to make an exchange equal, or to make up for the deficiency of value in one of the things exchanged; compensation; recompense.
    • I'll give you boot, I'll give you three for one. - c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio),...
    • If mortgaged property is transferred, the amount of the mortgage is part of the boot. If both parties to the transaction transfer mortgages to each other, the party giving up the larger debt treats the excess as taxable...
    • If the target retains the boot and uses it for, say, paying its debt, there is taxation on the boot. - 2021, Eli Amir, Marco Ghitti, Financial Analysis of Mergers and Acquisitions, page 117:
  4. Profit; gain; advantage; use.
    • Then talk no more of flight, it is no boot. - 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […]...
  5. Repair work; the act of fixing structures or buildings.
  6. A medicinal cure or remedy.

Origin

From Middle English boote, bote, bot, from Old English bōt (“help, relief, advantage”), from Proto-West Germanic *bōtu, from Proto-Germanic *bōtō (“atonement, improvement”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰed- (“good”). Akin to Old Norse bót (“bettering, remedy”) (Danish bod), Gothic 𐌱𐍉𐍄𐌰 (bōta), German Buße. Doublet of bote (a borrowing from Middle English).

Forms

boots

Derived

bootless to boot

Noun computing, engineering

  1. The act or process of bootstrapping; the starting or re-starting of a computing device.
    • It took three boots, but I finally got the application installed.

Origin

Clipping of bootstrap.

Forms

boots

Derived

autoboot bootability bootable boot block bootblock boot disk booter bootflash bootkit bootload boot loader bootloader boot loop Bootnik bootROM bootscan boot sector bootsector bootsplash boot time bootup cold boot dual boot hot boot

Noun archaic, informal

  1. A bootleg recording.
    • I am looking to trade Iron Maiden boots. I have many Iron Maiden bootlegs. I have lots of Metallica. I trade CDR's, tapes and videos. - 1999, Tom Fletcher, “Looking for Iron Maiden boot traders”, in alt.music.bootlegs...

Origin

From bootleg (“to make or sell illegally”), by shortening.

Forms

boots

Verb Entry 5

  1. To kick.
    • I booted the ball toward my teammate.
    • You nearly booted me in the face!
    • The one certainty is that the redrafting will delay by several months the general election that was supposed to be held at the end of this year. Mr Prayuth has implied that elections cannot now be held until after King...
  2. To put boots on, especially for riding.
    • Coated and booted for it. - 1641, Ben Jonson, Discoveries Made upon Men and Matter:
  3. To step on the accelerator of a vehicle for faster acceleration than usual or to drive faster than usual.
    • The storm is coming fast! Boot it!
    • We had to boot it all the way there to get to our flight on time.
  4. To eject; kick out.
    • We need to boot those troublemakers as soon as possible.
    • The senator was booted from the committee for unethical behavior.
  5. To disconnect forcibly; to eject from an online service, conversation, etc.
    • As an IRC member with operator status, Swallow was able to manage who was allowed to remain in chat sessions and who got booted off the channel. - 2002, Dan Verton, The Hacker Diaries, page 67:
    • Even flagrant violators of the TOS are not booted. - 2003, John C. Dvorak, Chris Pirillo, Online!, page 173:
    • In Electroserver, the kick command disconnects a user totally from the server and gives him a message about why he was booted. - 2002, Jobe Makar, Macromedia Flash Mx Game Design Demystified, page 544:
  6. To vomit.
    • Sorry, I didn’t mean to boot all over your couch.
  7. To shoot, to kill by gunfire.
    • C4 run man through the alley Get a man down with the swammy Get a man down with the whammy Boot couple niggas on the road No face no case with the bally (booting) - 2015 November 1, “Dem Man Know”, C4 (814) (lyrics):

Forms

boots booting booted

Synonyms

hoof kick

Derived

boot up the backside boot up the bum booting boot one boot out

Verb archaic, impersonal

  1. To be beneficial, to help.
    • It boots thee not to be compaſsionate, / After our ſentence, plaining comes too late. - 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William...
    • It bootes me not to threat, I must ſpeake faire, / The legate of the Pope will be obeyd: […] - 1594, Christopher Marlow[e], The Troublesome Raigne and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England: […], London:...
    • 1678 Richard Hooker, “A Sermon found in the study of Bishop Andrews” in Izaak Walton, The Life of Dr. Sanderson, late Bishop of Lincoln, London: Richard Marriot, p. 262, What booteth it to others that we wish them well,...
  2. To matter; to be relevant.
    • I will go and offer myſelf to this divorce—it boots not what becomes of me. - 1764 December 24 (indicated as 1765), Onuphrio Muralto, translated by William Marshal [pseudonyms; Horace Walpole], chapter IV, in The Castle...
    • [W]hat subdued / To change like this, a mind so far imbued / With scorn of man, it little boots to know; [...] - 1816, Lord Byron, “Canto III”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Third, London: […] [F]or John...
    • What boots whether it be Westminster or a little country spire which covers your ashes, or if, a few days sooner or later, the world forgets you? - 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, The History...
  3. To enrich.
    • And I will boot thee with what guift beſide / Thy modeſtie can begge. - c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, &...

Forms

boots booting booted

Verb computing, engineering

  1. To bootstrap; to start a system, e.g. a computer, by invoking its boot process or bootstrap.
    • When arriving at the office, the first thing I do is boot my machine.

    Synonyms: bootstrap boot up start

    Antonyms: shut down stop turn off

Forms

boots booting booted

Derived

reboot