Word.ws English Dictionary

gave someone the boot

gave someone the boot is the simple past of give someone the boot.

Meaning of give someone the boot

Verb

give someone the boot (third-person singular simple present gives someone the boot, present participle giving someone the boot, simple past gave someone the boot, past participle given someone the boot)

  1. (UK, idiomatic, informal) To fire, sack, or eject someone.
    • I am sorry for your husband and children, but I have to give you the boot.
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see give, the, boot.

Questions about gave someone the boot

What is gave someone the boot the simple past of?
Gave someone the boot is the simple past of give someone the boot.

Words near gave someone the boot in the dictionary

  1. gave someone one
  2. gave someone something to think about
  3. gave someone the air
  4. gave someone the arm
  5. gave someone the bag
  6. gave someone the boot
  7. gave someone the brush-off
  8. gave someone the business
  9. gave someone the chair
  10. gave someone the cold shoulder
  11. gave someone the creeps

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gave someone the boot (page history and authors); give someone the boot (page history and authors). 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.

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