bolts

verb

present tense third-person singular of bolt
1
as in jumps
to move suddenly and sharply (as in surprise) I bolted as I read the winning lottery numbers

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in races
to proceed or move quickly the cat bolted for the food dish the minute he spied it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in retreats
to hasten away from something dangerous or frightening the rabbit bolted when it saw the fox approaching

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in exclaims
to utter with a sudden burst of strong feeling bolted out the cuss word without thinking

Synonyms & Similar Words
5
as in inhales
to swallow or eat greedily the way you bolted those hot dogs, it's no wonder you're feeling a little queasy

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of bolts With that in mind, here are a few free agent options who could fit the Yankees if Bellinger bolts. — Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 14 Jan. 2026 When spinach bolts, the plant focuses its energy on producing flowers and seeds rather than leaves. — Michelle Mastro, Martha Stewart, 29 Apr. 2026 The canine then bolts across the field and is immediately chased by one horse, with about five more joining in moments later. — MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Nov. 2025 If Leonard bolts, the Clippers will look to rebuild around young point guard Darius Garland, who came to the team in the Harden trade. — Janis Carr, Oc Register, 17 Apr. 2026 Parsley is a biennial that quickly bolts and dies the second year, and since second-year parsley is bitter, it’s typically grown as an annual. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 14 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bolts
  1. jumps
  2. races
  3. retreats
  4. exclaims
  5. inhales
  6. speeds
  7. flies
  8. shouts
Verb
  • Add an annual contribution of $250, and the average amount jumps to $15,154.
    — Ryan Ermey, CNBC, 3 July 2026
  • Nissan shares have lost 45% of their value over the past five years, compared to 26% and 42% jumps for Honda and Toyota respectively.
    — Andrew Staples, Fortune, 3 July 2026
Definition of jumps
Verb
  • As is common with Enola Holmes films, zippy flashbacks and kicky montages illuminate what led up to all of this, but there’s an energy missing here, as the film races to get back into the present Maltese moment, which feels dire indeed.
    — Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 30 June 2026
  • Anthropic has accused the Chinese firm Alibaba of launching the largest attack yet attempting to clone Claude, as China races to match the capabilities of Anthropic’s leading model following Mythos’ release and subsequent restriction from foreign markets.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 25 June 2026
Definition of races
Verb
  • When Aries pushes harder, Cancer retreats further, and neither feels understood.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 24 June 2026
  • As natural gas output partially retreats, global seaborne coal shipments to the region have risen, even if China and India are insourcing more domestic coal.
    — Gaurav Sharma, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026
Definition of retreats
Verb
  • Fieri exclaims as Jesser laughs.
    — Chiara Kim, PEOPLE, 9 June 2026
  • Lopez exclaims before jumping in place excitedly and pulling Abdalla into a hug.
    — Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 23 May 2026
Definition of exclaims
Verb
  • The chemical is particularly tough on the human respiratory system and, depending on how much a person inhales, MMA can cause everything from sore throats and cough to dizziness, nausea and, at the highest levels, damage to the nervous system, Kleinman said.
    — Sierra van der Brug, Oc Register, 23 May 2026
Definition of inhales
Verb
  • For example, in tenant onboarding, using AI to automatically auto-fill and email a 50-page PDF lease just speeds up the generation of a static, cumbersome document that still requires manual follow-ups.
    — Ali Hoss, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026
  • Frequent mowing keeps clippings small, preventing smothering and speeds up decomposition for reuse.
    — Peg Aloi, The Spruce, 21 June 2026
Definition of speeds
Verb
  • The source also described an incident involving a helicopter pilot who regularly flies to a residence in the restricted zone.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026
  • Opportunities worth fighting for Esters, a 64-year-old retired clay sculptor for a Detroit automaker, flies three American flags at his Sherwood Forest home on the city’s west side.
    — Corey Williams, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2026
Definition of flies
Verb
  • If a street preacher shouts their sermon into a bullhorn on a public street, and a nearby business owner calls the police, who is in the right?
    — Emily Holshouser July 2, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 July 2026
  • Sirens, horns, and shouts to evacuate rang out in the West Bottoms and along Southwest Boulevard all morning, but the speed of the flooding still caught everyone off guard.
    — Kansas City Public Library staff, Kansas City Star, 1 July 2026
Definition of shouts

Phrases Containing bolts

Browse Nearby Words

bolting
bolts
bolts from the blue
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Bolts.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bolts. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on bolts

Nglish: Translation of bolts for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All