bolt
/bɒlt/noun, verb, adverb
bolt is spelled B-O-L-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,674th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bolt means “A (usually) metal fastener consisting of a cylindrical body that is threaded, with a larger head on one end. It can be inserted into an unthreaded…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bolt is bolts.
How many letters and syllables are in bolt?
| Letters | 4: B-O-L-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 11 times per million words; the 6,674th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is bolt?
Bolt appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,674th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bolt?
- UK /bɒlt/
- UK /bəʊlt/
- UK [bɔʊɫt]
Bolt has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bolt.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bolt
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: boult.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with bolt?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bolt from its last stressed vowel (/ɒlt/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: blot.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of bolt
- bolts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- bolting participle, present
- bolted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bolt mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A (usually) metal fastener consisting of a cylindrical body that is threaded, with a larger head on one end. It can be inserted into an unthreaded hole up to the head, with a nut then threaded on the other end; a heavy machine screw.
- 2
A sliding pin or bar in a lock or latch mechanism.
- 3
A bar of wood or metal dropped in horizontal hooks on a door and adjoining wall or between the two sides of a double door, to prevent the door(s) from being forced open.
- 4
A sliding mechanism to chamber and unchamber a cartridge in a firearm.
- 5
An iron to fasten the legs of a prisoner; a shackle; a fetter.
- 6
A stalk or scape (of garlic, onion, etc).
- 7
A large roll of fabric or similar material, as a bolt of cloth.
- 8
The standard linear measurement of canvas for use at sea: 39 yards.
- 9
A sieve, especially a long fine sieve used in milling for bolting flour and meal; a bolter.
verb
- 1
To connect or assemble pieces using a bolt.
Bolt the vice to the bench.
- 2
To affix in a crude or unnatural manner.
- 3
To secure a bolt or bolts; to lock using a bolt.
Bolt the door.
- 4
To flee, to depart, to accelerate away suddenly.
Seeing the snake, the horse bolted.
- 5
To escape.
- 6
To cause to start or spring forth; to dislodge (an animal being hunted).
to bolt a rabbit
- 7
To strike or fall suddenly like a bolt.
- 8
To produce flower stalks and flowers or seeds quickly or prematurely; to form a bolt (stalk or scape); to go to seed.
Lettuce and spinach will bolt as the weather warms up.
- 9
To sift, especially through a cloth.
- 10
To sift the bran and germ from wheat flour.
Graham flour is unbolted flour; in contrast, some other flours have been bolted.
- 11
To separate, assort, refine, or purify by other means.
- 12
To discuss or argue privately, and for practice, as cases at law.
adverb
- 1
Suddenly; straight; unbendingly.
The soldiers stood bolt upright for inspection.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bolt in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | boulon, vis , verrou , carreau , éclair , boulonner |
| German | Schraube, Bolzen, Schraubbolzen, Bohrhaken , Riegel , anschrauben |
| Portuguese | parafuso , trinco, ferrolho, tranca , aparafusar , barra |
| Spanish | tornillo, bulón, perno , cerrojo, falleba, tranquilla |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bolt come from?
From Middle English bolt, from Old English bolt, from Proto-West Germanic *bolt, from Proto-Germanic *bultaz, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeld- (“to knock, strike”). Compare Lithuanian beldu (“I knock”), baldas (“pole for striking”). Akin to Dutch and West Frisian bout, German Bolz or Bolzen, Danish bolt, Swedish bult, Icelandic bolti.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).