Bolt

Last Sunday’s Traverse City Record-Eagle ran this teaser in a box at the top of page 1: “World’s fastest man ‘Bolts’ into action at the Olympics.” The reference was to Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, and the verb bolts was used with the meaning to proceed rapidly.

I’m always entertained by words with multiple meanings, and bolt is one of them. Here is the rundown from the Oxford English Dictionary.

BOLT

n.

·      a short arrow

·      a thunderbolt  [a bolt from the blue]

·      a stout sliding pin for fastening a door

·      a metal pin with a head secured by a nut

·      a sliding metal rod in the breech mechanism of a rifle

·      a sudden spring or start

v.

·      to move suddenly

·      to take flight or escape

·      of a horse: to escape the rider’s control

·      to break away from a political party

·      to swallow hastily without chewing

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