Word.ws English Dictionary

boot

UK/buːt/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

British/bʉwt/

boot noun: a heavy shoe that covers part of the leg.

boot: a heavy shoe that covers part of the leg
Image: Safedom, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

boot (plural boots)

  1. (footwear) A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg.
    1. (footwear) 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. (uncountable) A blow with the foot; a kick.
    Synonyms:
    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. (figuratively, with-definite-article) 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 invader1989, Gilles Perrault, Pierre Azema, Paris Under the Occupation
  5. (usually preceded by definite article) 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. (US) A parking enforcement device used to immobilize a car until it can be towed or a fine is paid; a wheel clamp.
    Synonyms:
    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. (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.
    • [T]he young man helped the young lady, half-swooning, inside, and Egbert, Murial Jane and Silvander Dan climbed on to the boot which was a handsome high-seat at the back.1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 23
  9. (archaic) A place for baggage at either end of an old-fashioned stagecoach.
    Synonyms:
    butt, heel, ender, outsider
  10. (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, UK) 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 Rendell, A Sight For Sore Eyes, published 2010, page 260
    • 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
    Synonyms:
    trunk, dicky
  11. (informal, with-definite-article) 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. (UK, slang) An unattractive person, ugly woman.
    • old boot
    Synonyms:
    firing, layoff
Show 9 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (US, slang) A recently arrived recruit; a rookie.
    • Did you even go to OCS, you complete and utter boot!?2020 November 2, JoshScorcher, “Top Ten Hated Characters We're Supposed to Like”, in YouTube
  2. (US, plural, usually) A soldier, especially a footsoldier.
    • We do not anticipate there will be US boots on the ground to help quell the violence.
  3. (ethnic, slang, slur) A black person.
    • My Dad has taught me that in England some foolish man may call me sambo, darkie, boot or munt or nigger, even.1964 [1957], Colin MacInnes, City of Spades, London: Penguin Books, page 22
  4. A hard or rigid case for a long firearm, typically moulded to the shape of the gun.
    • They drew in their horses and dismounted. The others riding ahead were already out of sight in the darkness. Beyond them shone the lights of Bou Saada. Tarzan removed his rifle from its boot and loosened his revolver in its holster.1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Fight in the Desert”, in The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], published March 1915, →OCLC, page 107
  5. A bobbled ball.
  6. The inflated flag leaf sheath of a wheat plant.
  7. (slang) A linear amplifier used with CB radio.
    • Because of overcrowding, many a CB enthusiast (called an "apple") is strapping an illegal linear amplifier ("boots") on to his transceiver ("ears") […]1977, New Scientist, volume 74, page 764
  8. (slang) A tyre.
  9. (US) A crust end-piece of a loaf of bread.
    Synonyms:
    butt, heel

Verb (1)

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

  1. (transitive) To kick.
    • I booted the ball toward my teammate.
    • You nearly booted me in the face!
    Synonyms:
    hoof, kick
  2. To put boots on, especially for riding.
    • Coated and booted for it.1641, Ben Jonson, Discoveries Made upon Men and Matter
  3. (Canada, US, colloquial, usually) 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. (informal) 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. (informal) 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
    Synonyms:
    kick
  6. (slang) To vomit.
    • Sorry, I didn’t mean to boot all over your couch.
  7. (Multicultural-London-English, slang) 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)

Noun (2)

boot (countable and uncountable, plural boots)

  1. (archaic, dialectal) 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 Archibald Constable and Co.; London...
    • next her Son, our soul's best boot1820, William Wordsworth, The Prioress' Tale (from Chaucer)
  2. (uncountable) 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), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • 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 boot.2008, Jeffrey H. Rattiner, Financial Planning Answer Book 2009, pages 6–43
  4. (obsolete) 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: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  5. (obsolete) Repair work; the act of fixing structures or buildings.
  6. (obsolete) A medicinal cure or remedy.

Verb (2)

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

  1. (archaic, impersonal, intransitive, transitive) 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 Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to...
    • 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: […] [Eliot’s Court Press] for Henry Bell, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act...
  2. (archaic, impersonal, intransitive) 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 of Otranto, […], London: […] Tho[mas] Lownds […], →OCLC...
    • [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 Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza LIV, page 30
  3. (archaic, rare, transitive) 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, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...

Noun (3)

boot (plural boots)

  1. (archaic) 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.

Verb (3)

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

  1. (archaic) 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

Noun (4)

boot (plural boots)

  1. (archaic, informal) 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 (Usenet)

Proper noun capitalized: Boot

Boot

  1. A surname.
  2. A small village in Eskdale parish, Cumberland, Cumbria, England, previously in Copeland borough (OS grid ref NY1701).

Noun (5) capitalized: BOOT

BOOT

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Build–own–operate–transfer.

boot meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

boot in Hindi

heavy shoe that covers part of the leg
बूट būṭ

boot in Marathi

बूट करा, बुट करा, बूट करण्यासाठी

boot in Urdu

heavy shoe that covers part of the leg
بُوٹ būṭ

boot in Bengali

বুট করুন, বুট, বুট করা
More languagesFewer languages
boot in Telugu
బూటు būṭu
boot in Kannada
ಬೂಟ್ ಮಾಡಿ, ಬೂಟ್, ಬೂಟ್ ಮಾಡಲು
boot in Punjabi
ਬੂਟ ਕਰੋ, ਬੂਟ, ਬੂਟ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
boot in Gujarati
બૂટ કરો, બુટ કરો, બુટ કરવા માટે
boot in Odia
ବୁଟ୍ କରନ୍ତୁ, ବୁଟ କରନ୍ତୁ, ବୁଟ୍
boot in Nepali
बुट गर्नुहोस्, बुट, बुट गर्न
boot in Pashto
موزه moza
boot in Tagalog
bota
boot in Arabic
جَزْمَة jazma, بسطار busṭār
boot in Malay
kasut but
boot in Indonesian
bot, but, inisialisasi
boot in Thai
รองเท้า rɔɔng-táao
boot in Vietnamese
giày ống, ủng, khởi động
boot in Myanmar
ဘွတ်ဖိနပ် bhwathpi.nap

Examples of boot in a sentence

  • 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, →ISBN:
  • 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, London: The Peter Hacket Chronicles, page 104:
  • All this boots the long-promised polls well into 2018.2017 January 14, “Thailand's new king rejects the army's proposed constitution”, in The Economist:
  • 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:

All 40 example sentences with boot

Synonyms of boot

6 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of boot

Forms of boot

Noun
pluralboots
Verb
third-person singular presentboots
present participlebooting
past participlebooted
pastbooted

Past tense of boot: booted

Plural of boot: boots

Origin of boot

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.

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).

Clipping of bootstrap.

Words formed from boot

Phrases with boot

107 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with boot

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about boot

What does boot mean?
Boot means a heavy shoe that covers part of the leg.
What is boot in Hindi?
Boot in Hindi is बूट (būṭ). See Boot meaning in Hindi.
How do you use boot in a sentence?
Chronic unrest in Ireland, long under the British boot, was about to culminate in a popular rising.
What part of speech is boot?
Boot can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce boot?
Boot is pronounced /buːt/ (UK).
What is the plural of boot?
The plural of boot is boots.

Words near boot in the dictionary

  1. boostglide
  2. boosting
  3. boostings
  4. boosts
  5. boosy
  6. boot
  7. boot and rally
  8. boot block
  9. boot blocks
  10. boot board
  11. boot boards

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: boot (page history and authors); Boot (page history and authors); BOOT (page history and authors); boot (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); boot (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); boot (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); boot (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); boot (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); boot (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); boot (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-boot.ogg, EN-AU ck1 boot.ogg.

Cite this entry: “boot.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/boot. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.