boot

1 archaic : deliverance

2 : something to equalize a trade

3 obsolete : avail

1 : a fitted covering (as of leather or rubber) for the foot and usually reaching above the ankle

2 : an instrument of torture used to crush the leg and foot

3 : something that resembles or is likened to a boot especially : an enclosing or protective casing or sheath (as for a rifle or over an electrical or mechanical connection)

4 : a navy or marine corps recruit undergoing basic training

5 British : an automobile trunk

7 : a sheath enclosing the inflorescence

8 : denver boot

9 : the act of booting or rebooting a computer or the process by which a computer is booted — see boot entry 4 sense 5b A cold boot is starting up a computer whose power has been turned off. A warm boot involves restarting the system while it is running …— J. D. Biersdorfer —often used before another noun a boot disk

1 : to put boots on

3 : to make an error on (a grounder in baseball) broadly : botch

4 : to ride (a horse) in a race booted home three winners

1 : to become loaded into a computer's memory from a disk the program boots automatically

2 : to become ready for use especially by booting a program the computer boots quickly —often used with up