boot

• (General American) IPA^(key): /but/
• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: bo͞ot, IPA^(key): /buːt/, [buːt]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːt

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”). Compare Old Norse butt (“stump”), Low German butt (“blunt, plump”), Old English bytt (“small piece of land”), buttuc (“end”). More at buttock.

boot (plural boots)

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.
2. A blow with the foot; a kick.
3. (construction) 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. A torture device used on the feet or legs, such as a Spanish boot.
5. (US) A parking enforcement device used to immobilize a car until it can be towed or a fine is paid; a wheel clamp.
6. A rubber bladder on the leading edge of an aircraft’s wing, which is inflated periodically to remove ice buildup. A deicing boot.
7. (obsolete) A place at the side of a coach, where attendants rode; also, a low outside place before and behind the body of the coach.
8. (archaic) A place for baggage at either end of an old-fashioned stagecoach.
9. (US, military, law enforcement, slang) A recently arrived recruit; a rookie.
10. (Australia, Britain, New Zealand, automotive) The luggage storage compartment of a sedan or saloon car.
    • 1998, Ruth Rendell, A Sight For Sore Eyes, 2010, page 260,

      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.

    • 2003, Keith Bluemel, Original Ferrari V-12 1965-1973: The Restorer's Guide, unnumbered page,

      The body is constructed of welded steel panels, with the bonnet, doors and boot lid in aluminium on steel frames.

    • 2008, MB Chattelle, Richmond, London: The Peter Hacket Chronicles, page 104,

      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.

11. (informal) The act or process of removing or firing someone (give someone the boot).
12. (Britain, slang) unattractive person, ugly woman (usu as "old boot")
13. (firearms) A hard plastic case for a long firearm, typically moulded to the shape of the gun and intended for use in a vehicle.
14. (baseball) A bobbled ball.
15. (botany) The inflated flag leaf sheath of a wheat plant.

• (shoe): buskin, mukluk
• (blow with foot): kick
• (car storage): trunk (US), dicky (India)
• (parking enforcement device): wheel clamp
• (sacked, dismissed): fired, laid off

boot (third-person singular simple present boots, present participle booting, simple past and past participle booted)

1. To kick.

   I booted the ball toward my teammate.

   • 2017 January 14, “Thailand's new king rejects the army's proposed constitution”, in The Economist‎:

     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 Vajiralongkorn's coronation, which itself cannot take place until after his father's elaborate cremation, scheduled for October. All this boots the long-promised polls well into 2018.

2. To put boots on, especially for riding.
   • Ben Jonson

     Coated and booted for it.

3. To apply corporal punishment (compare slippering).
4. (informal) To forcibly eject.

   We need to boot those troublemakers as soon as possible

5. (computing, informal) To disconnect forcibly; to eject from an online service, conversation, etc.
   • 2002, Dan Verton, The Hacker Diaries - Page 67

     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.

   • 2003, John C. Dvorak, Chris Pirillo, Online! - Page 173

     Even flagrant violators of the TOS are not booted.

   • 2002, Jobe Makar, Macromedia Flash Mx Game Design Demystified - Page 544

     In Electroserver, the kick command disconnects a user totally from the server and gives him a message about why he was booted.

6. (slang) To vomit.

   Sorry, I didn’t mean to boot all over your couch.

The more common term for “to eject from a chatroom” etc. is kick.

• (kick): hoof, kick
• (disconnect from online conversation): kick

• boot up
• boot up the backside, boot up the bum

From Middle English boote, bote, bot, from Old English bōt (“help, relief, advantage, remedy; compensation for an injury or wrong; (peace) offering, recompense, amends, atonement, reformation, penance, repentance”), from Proto-Germanic *bōtō (“atonement, improvement”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeHd-, *bʰoHd- (“good”). Akin to Old Norse bót (“bettering, remedy”) (Danish bod), Gothic 𐌱𐍉𐍄𐌰 (bōta), German Buße. Doublet of bote (a borrowing from Middle English).

boot (countable and uncountable, plural boots)

1. (archaic, dialectal) remedy, amends
   • Sir Walter Scott

     Thou art boot for many a bruise / And healest many a wound.

   • Wordsworth

     next her Son, our soul's best boot

2. (uncountable) profit, plunder
3. (obsolete) 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
   • Shakespeare

     I'll give you boot, I'll give you three for one.

4. (obsolete) Profit; gain; advantage; use.
   • Shakespeare

     Then talk no more of flight, it is no boot.

5. (obsolete) Repair work; the act of fixing structures or buildings.
6. (obsolete) A medicinal cure or remedy.

• bootless
• to boot

boot (third-person singular simple present boots, present participle booting, simple past and past participle booted)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To profit, avail, benefit.
   • 1594, Christopher Marlowe, Edward II, London: William Jones,

     It bootes me not to threat, I must speake faire,

   • 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, and do nothing for them?

   • 1816, Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Canto the Third, London: John Murray, Stanza 54, p. 30,

     […] what subdued

     To change like this a mind so far imbued

     With scorn of man, it little boots to know;

   • 1817, Robert Southey, Wat Tyler, London: Sherwood, Neely & Jones, Act II, p. 44,

     What boots to us your victories, your glory?

2. (transitive, obsolete) To enrich; to benefit; to give in addition.
   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act II, Scene 5,

     And I will boot thee with what gift beside

     Thy modesty can beg.

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:boot.

Clipping of bootstrap.

boot (plural boots)

1. (computing) 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.

boot (third-person singular simple present boots, present participle booting, simple past and past participle booted)

1. (computing) To bootstrap; to start a system, e.g. a computer, by invoking its boot process or bootstrap.

   Synonyms: bootstrap, boot up, start

   Antonyms: shut down, stop, turn off

   When arriving at the office, first thing I do is booting my machine.

• reboot

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

boot (plural boots)

1. A bootleg recording.
   • 1999, "Tom Fletcher", Looking for Iron Maiden boot traders (on newsgroup alt.music.bootlegs)

     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.

• OOTB, boto

From Dutch boot.

• IPA^(key): /bʊət/, [buə̯t][1]

boot (plural bote)

1. boat

• Rhymes: -oːt
• IPA^(key): /boːt/
• (Belgium) IPA^(key): [boːt]

• audio (Belgium)

  (file)

• (Netherlands) IPA^(key): [boʊt]

• audio (Netherlands)

  (file)

boot f or m (plural boten, diminutive bootje n)

1. boat

• schip, sloep, kayak, kano, pedalo

From Old English bōt.

boot

1. Alternative form of bote (“boot”)

From Old French bote.

boot

1. Alternative form of bote (“help, aid”)

From Old English bāt.

boot

1. Alternative form of bot (“boat”)

boot m (plural boots)

1. (computing) boot (the act or process of bootstrapping)

For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:boot.