boot

1 of 5

noun (1)

ˈbüt

Synonyms of boot next

archaic : deliverance

: something to equalize a trade

obsolete : avail

boot

2 of 5

verb (1)

booted; booting; boots

archaic

: avail, profit

boot

3 of 5

noun (2)

plural boots

: a fitted covering (as of leather or rubber) for the foot that usually reaches above the ankle

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

: 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)

: a navy or marine corps recruit undergoing basic training

British : an automobile trunk

: a kick with the foot

: summary dismissal

—used with the

gave him the boot

: momentary pleasure or enjoyment : bang

got a big boot out of the joke

: a sheath enclosing the inflorescence

: denver boot

: 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

boot

4 of 5

verb (2)

booted; booting; boots

transitive verb

: to put boots on

: kick

: to eject or discharge summarily

—often used with out

was booted out of office

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

broadly : botch

: to ride (a horse) in a race

booted home three winners

: to load (a program) into a computer from a disk

: to start or ready for use especially by booting a program

boot a computer

—often used with up

intransitive verb

: to become loaded into a computer's memory from a disk

the program boots automatically

: to become ready for use especially by booting a program

the computer boots quickly

—often used with up

bootable

ˈbü-tə-bəl

adjective

boot

5 of 5

noun (3)

archaic

: booty, plunder

Phrases

to boot

: besides

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

These routine tasks have been shown in studies to actually reduce stress — and get things done, to boot. 1. —

Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Mar. 2023 But one that really stands out, and has a great plate illustration to boot, is the EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health’s Planetary Health Diet. —

Christina Manian, Rdn, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Mar. 2023 The six-time WNBA All-Star is one of the greatest players in the history of the league, and a two-time Olympian to boot. —

USA Today, 19 Mar. 2023 Here's what to know: 75th Lilac Festival A 10-day celebration planned with parades, a 10k run, and walk, daily walking tours, dancing with the West Michigan boot scooters plus more. —

Chandra Fleming, Detroit Free Press, 17 Mar. 2023 The Four-Star resort will handle equipment rentals, boot fittings and ski school enrollment. —

Spencer Whaley, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2023 For a lot of outsiders, Washington often conjures images of a drizzly metropolis that runs on lattes, with techies and tree huggers to boot. —

Jd Shadel, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Mar. 2023 This type of boot-leather investigative work, former federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents say, is typical of searches for people considered to be fugitives, even if McGrath’s case is anything but typical. —

Lee O. Sanderlin, Baltimore Sun, 14 Mar. 2023 The officer waited for 90 seconds, then ran up, used his boot to hold her on the ground and pressed his foot into her chest, according to the report. —

Mark Berman, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2023

Verb

For now your best bet is to boot up Twitch and try to find a streamer who got in, as there are no restrictions on creating content from Counter-Strike 2. —

Mike Stubbs, Forbes, 22 Mar. 2023 The Patriots took over on downs with 32 seconds left in the half and gained enough yards for Nick Folk to boot a 51-yard field. —

Bob Mcmanaman, The Arizona Republic, 12 Dec. 2022 With 26 seconds left on the clock, and the score still tied at 3-3, Jets punter Braden Mann decided to boot the ball inbounds. —

Nicole Yang, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Nov. 2022 If Bears kicker Cairo Santos were to boot the ball anywhere other than the stands, Patterson had plans for a big return. —

Dan Wiederer, Chicago Tribune, 21 Nov. 2022 The teams boot about 50 vehicles daily, interim director Michael A. Carter said at an oversight budget hearing of his agency late last month. —

Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2022 Setting up a Raspberry Pi board has always required a second computer, which is used to flash your operating system of choice to an SD card so your Pi can boot. —

Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 8 Feb. 2022 The display unit sometimes fails to boot up when the car is ignited because the cranking causes the car’s battery level to drop, according to the report. —

Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2023 Electricity was turned off across Pakistan during low-usage hours overnight to conserve fuel across the country, officials said, leaving technicians unable to boot up the system for most of the country after daybreak. —

Los Angeles Times, 24 Jan. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'boot.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English bot, bote "advantage, good, relief, deliverance, redemption, amends, cure," Old English bōt "a making good, repair, relief, deliverance, remedy, improvement, atonement, penance, compensation," going back to Germanic *botō "improvement" — more at better entry 1

Note: Though its Old and Middle English predecessors were common nouns with numerous senses, boot now occurs rarely outside of the idiom to boot. This phrase is attested in the sense "to the advantage (of someone)" in Middle English ("to youre bote") and hence was generalized to "as an extra thing, into the bargain" and then "in addition, moreover."

Verb (1)

Middle English boten "to cure, relieve, add to equalize the value of things exchanged, be of use, avail," probably in part derivative of bot, bote "advantage, good, relief," in part going back to Old English botian "to recover from ill health, keep in repair," derivative of bōt "a making good, repair, relief" — more at boot entry 1

Noun (2)

(senses 1-8) Middle English bote, bot, boot, borrowed from Anglo-French bote (also continental Old French bote, botte), of uncertain origin; (sense 9) noun derivative of boot entry 4, sense 5

Note: The French word is traced to a putative Germanic base *butt- "blunt" in Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, along with a diverse group of phonetically similar words, but both the semantic and phonetic assumptions are questionable.

Verb (2)

(senses 1-4) Middle English boten "to put boots on," derivative of bote, bot boot entry 3; (sense 5) short for bootstrap in sense "to perform a bootstrap operation," derivative of bootstrap entry 2

Noun (3)

shortened from booty entry 1, perhaps by association with boot entry 1

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (3)

1598, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of boot was before the 12th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Boot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boot. Accessed 30 Mar. 2023.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

boot

1 of 3 noun

ˈbüt

chiefly dialect

: something given to make a trade equal

boot

2 of 3 noun

: a covering usually of leather or rubber for the foot and part of the leg

: kick entry 2 sense 1a

: a rude dismissal or discharge

—used with the

: a new member of the Navy or Marine Corps while in boot camp

boot

3 of 3 verb

: to put boots on

: kick entry 1 sense 1

: to get rid of or dismiss rudely

—often used with out

was booted out of the office

: to load (a program) into a computer from a disk

: to start or make ready for use especially by booting a program

boot a computer

Etymology

Noun

Old English bōt "remedy"

Noun

Middle English boot "a covering for the foot"

Legal Definition

boot

noun

: additional money or property received to make up the difference in an exchange of business or investment property that is of like kind but unequal in value

Note: Under Internal Revenue Code section 1031, no tax liability results from an exchange solely of like-kind property used in a business or trade or held for investment. If the exchange includes boot, however, under section 1245 the boot will be treated as ordinary income.

Etymology

Noun

obsolete or dialect boot compensation, from Old English bōt advantage, compensation