boot Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun footwear that covers the whole foot and lower leg
  2. noun British term for the luggage compartment in a car
  3. noun the swift release of a store of affective force
    rush; thrill; charge; bang; flush; kick.
    • they got a great bang out of it
    • what a boot!
    • he got a quick rush from injecting heroin
    • he does it for kicks
  4. noun protective casing for something that resembles a leg
  5. noun an instrument of torture that is used to heat or crush the foot and leg
    the boot; iron boot; iron heel.
  6. noun a form of foot torture in which the feet are encased in iron and slowly crushed
  7. noun the act of delivering a blow with the foot
    kicking; kick.
    • he gave the ball a powerful kick
    • the team's kicking was excellent
  8. verb kick; give a boot to
  9. verb cause to load (an operating system) and start the initial processes
    bring up; reboot.
    • boot your computer

WordNet

Boot noun
Etymology
OE. bot, bote, adbantage, amends, cure, AS. bt; akin to Icel. bt, Sw. bot, Dan. bod, Goth. bta, D. boete, G. busse; prop., a making good or better, from the root of E. better, adj. 255.
Definitions
  1. Remedy; relief; amends; reparation; hence, one who brings relief.
    He gaf the sike man his boote. Chaucer.
    Thou art boot for many a bruise And healest many a wound. Sir W. Scott.
    Next her Son, our soul's best boot. Wordsworth.
  2. That which is given to make an exchange equal, or to make up for the deficiency of value in one of the things exchanged.
    I'll give you boot, I'll give you three for one. Shak.
  3. Profit; gain; advantage; use. Obs.
    Then talk no more of flight, it is no boot. Shak.
    Helen, to change, would give an eye to boot. Shak.
    A man's heaviness is refreshed long before he comes to drunkenness, for when he arrives thither he hath but changed his heaviness, and taken a crime to boot. Jer. Taylor.
Boot transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Booted; present participle & verbal noun Booting
Definitions
  1. To profit; to advantage; to avail; -- generally followed by it; as, what boots it?
    What booteth it to others that we wish them well, and do nothing for them? Hooker.
    What subdued To change like this a mind so far imbued With scorn of man, it little boots to know. Byron.
    What boots to us your victories? Southey.
  2. To enrich; to benefit; to give in addition. Obs.
    And I will boot thee with what gift beside Thy modesty can beg. Shak.
Boot noun
Etymology
OE. bote, OF. bote, F. botte, LL. botta; of uncertain origin.
Definitions
  1. A covering for the foot and lower part of the leg, ordinarily made of leather.
  2. An instrument of torture for the leg, formerly used to extort confessions, particularly in Scotland.
    So he was put to the torture, which in Scotland they call the boots; for they put a pair of iron boots close on the leg, and drive wedges between them and the leg. Bp. Burnet.
  3. A place at the side of a coach, where attendants rode; also, a low outside place before and behind the body of the coach. Obs.
  4. A place for baggage at either end of an old-fashioned stagecoach.
  5. An apron or cover (of leather or rubber cloth) for the driving seat of a vehicle, to protect from rain and mud.
  6. (Plumbing) The metal casing and flange fitted about a pipe where it passes through a roof.
Boot transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Booted; present participle & verbal noun Booting
Definitions
  1. To put boots on, esp. for riding.
    Coated and booted for it. B. Jonson.
  2. To punish by kicking with a booted foot. U. S. boot out. (obj=a person) (Colloq.) Eject; throw out.
Boot intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To boot one's self; to put on one's boots.
Boot noun
Definitions
  1. Booty; spoil. Obs. or R. Shak.

Webster 1913