Word.ws English Dictionary

unbolted

unbolted is the simple past and past participle of unbolt.

Adjective

unbolted (not comparable)

  1. Not fastened with a bolt.
    • […] it seems not more reasonable to leave the right of printing unrestrained, because writers may afterwards be censured, than it would be to sleep with doors unbolted, because by our laws we can hang a thief.1779, Samuel Johnson, “Milton”, in Prefaces Biographical and Critical to the Works of the English Poets, volume 2, London: C. Bathurst, et al, page 46
  2. Not sifted.
    • unbolted flour
    • [The slave] toils that another may reap the fruit; he is industrious that another may live in idleness; he eats unbolted meal that another may eat the bread of fine flour; he labors in chains at home, under a burning sun and biting lash, that another may ride in ease and splendor abroad […]1855, Frederick Douglass, “. Appendix.”, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York; Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC, part II (Life as a Freeman), page 430
  3. (figuratively, obsolete) Coarse, uncultured, vulgar.
    • My lord, if you’ll give me leave, I will tread this unbolted villain into mortar and daub the walls of a jakes with him.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...

Meaning of unbolt

Verb

unbolt (third-person singular simple present unbolts, present participle unbolting, simple past and past participle unbolted)

  1. (transitive) To unlock by undoing the bolts of.
    • Then, sweet my lord, I’ll call mine uncle down;
      He shall unbolt the gates.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...

Questions about unbolted

What does unbolted mean?
Unbolted means not fastened with a bolt.
What is unbolted the simple past and past participle of?
Unbolted is the simple past and past participle of unbolt.
What part of speech is unbolted?
Unbolted is an adjective.

Words near unbolted in the dictionary

  1. unbolster
  2. unbolstered
  3. unbolstering
  4. unbolsters
  5. unbolt
  6. unbolted
  7. unbolting
  8. unbolts
  9. unbombable
  10. unbombarded
  11. unbombast

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: unbolted (page history and authors); unbolt (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: “unbolted.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/unbolted. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.