▪ I. boot, n.1
(buːt)
Forms: 1–5 bót, 3–6 bote, 4–7 boote, 5– boot. Also 4 bott, bout(e, 5 both; north. 4–6 but(e, 5 boyte, buyt, 6 buit.
[Com. Teut.: OE. bót fem., corresponds to OFris. bôte, OS. bôta (MDu. and Du. boete, LG. bote), OHG. buoȥa (MHG. buoȥe, mod.G. busze), ON. bót (Sw. bot, Da. bod), Goth. bôta ‘boot, advantage, good’:—OTeut. *bôtâ- (Aryan type *bhādā-), prob. a derivative of root bat- (Aryan *bhad-) ‘good, useful’: see better. Hence the vb. beet, to make good or better.]
I. Good, advantage, profit, use.
1. Good: in phrase to boot: ‘to the good’, to advantage, into the bargain, in addition; besides, moreover.
| c 1000 Daniel 200 (Gr.) Cuð ᵹedydon, þæt hie..noldon; oft hie to bote bealde ᵹecwædon. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1825) 163 (Mätz), A hundreth knyghtes mo..and four hundreth to bote, squieres of gode aray. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. xiv. 268 Bi assent of sondry partyes and syluer to bote. 1543 J. Willoughby in Strype Cranmer (1694) App. 66 Mr. Gardiner to sign for himself, and Serles to boot. 1652 Earl of Monmouth Hist. Relations 171 To boot that he had received many distastes from the French. Ibid. 9 To boot with the Councel of the States General, the United Provinces have three Councels apart. 1653 tr. Carmeni's Nissena 42 To boot that it was commonly whispered about, etc. 1660 Pepys Diary 13 Feb., For two books that I had and 6s. 6d. to boot I had my great book of songs. a 1679 T. Goodwin Wks. (1861) I. 88 He shall have all things into boot. a 1711 Ken Damonet Poet Wks. 1721 IV. 505 Would you give yours, and your whole Flock to boot. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. iv. 222 One who held all Gaul and all Britain, with seemingly Germany to boot. |
b. In
Sc. to the boot,
into the boot (buit).
| 1645 Rutherford Lett. 357 Some..who would exchange afflictions, and give you to the boot. 1814 Scott Wav. xviii, Alice, who..was, to the boot of all that, the best dancer of a strathspey in the whole strath. |
† 2. That which is ‘thrown in’, or given in addition, to make up a deficiency of value; a premium, compensation, odds.
Obs. exc. Sc. dial.| 1483 Cath. Angl. 49 Bute [v.r. Buyt], auctorium, augmentum. 1593 G. Fletcher Licia (1876) 9 Were all the world offered to make a change, yet the boote were too small. 1597 Skene Expl. diffic. Wds. s.v. Bote (Jam.), The aine partie that gettes the better, giues ane bote, or compensation to the vther. 1600 Heywood 1 Edw. IV, iii. i. Wks. 1874 I. 44 If I were so mad to score, what boote wouldst thou giue me? a 1652 Brome Queen iv. iv, Doct. Too many a man..will change with thee And give good Boot. 1726 Cavallier Mem. iv. 313 Now I am convinced that my Religion is better than yours since you give me so much Boot. |
† 3. Advantage; profit; avail, use. Chiefly in
interrog. or negative phrases or their equivalent, as
it is no boot: it avails not, it is no use.
to make boot of, to make profit of, gain by; to gain.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 89 Quat bote is to sette traueil On thyng þat may not auail. c 1400 Destr. Troy 448 Agayne þe wyles of wemen to wer is no bote. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. xvi, I bare the of my body, quat bote is to layne? 1535 Lyndesay Satyre 1082 But cum scho to the Kings presence, Thair is na buit for vs to byde. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iii. xi. 19 O spare thy happy daies, and them apply To better boot. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. (1641) 42/2 Then loose they all the sheats, but to no boot. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. i. 9 Giue him no breath, but now Make boote of his distraction. 1606 G. W[oodcocke] Hist. Ivstine 22 a, They..lost all that before they had made boot of. 1681 R. Knox Hist. Ceylon (1781) 333 We thought it no boot to sit longer..and so took up our bags, and fled. 1693 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 272 To no boot, frustra. |
† 4. loosely, Well-being, weal.
Obs.| a 1300 Cursor M. 1008 (Gött.) Paradis hit is a..lond of lif of roo & rest Wid bliss and bote broidin best. c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 12 Ihesu! þou brouȝtist man to boote. |
II. The making good or mending of anything; the means of doing so; repair; remedy, relief.
† 5. The repair of decaying structures,
e.g. bridges; also, a contribution levied for keeping these in repair. Only in
OE. (in such combs. as
burhbót,
brycgbót, etc.)
exc. in late writers on legal antiquities.
| a 1000 Thorpe Laws I. 380 (Bosw.) Brycgbota aginne man ᵹeorne. c 1250 Gloss. Law Terms in Rel. Ant. I. 33 Briggebote, refere punz à passer. 1670 Blount Law Dict., Burgbote. 1839 Keightley Hist. Eng. I. 83 The ‘Bricg⁓bote’. |
† b. The right of a tenant to take timber, etc. for repairs, firing, and other necessary purposes, from off the landlord's estate; common of estovers. In comb., as
fire-bote,
house-bote,
hedge-bote, etc.
| 1528 Perkins Prof. Bk. i. §116 If a stranger grant all manner of Estouers unto me..by this grant I shall have Housbote, Plowbote, and Haybote. 1553 Procl. in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. i. iii. 30 All other lands, tenements..&c., with reasonable fire-boot, cart-boot, plow-boot, hedge-boot, within the woods of the said manor. 1604 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 437 To deliver to the sayd tenants house boot and high boot. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 322 Boot, necessary Timber or Wood for necessary uses; as Plough-boot, House-boot, Fire-boot. 1765–8 Blackstone Comm. II. 25 The Saxon word, bote, is of the same signification with the French Estover. 1844 Tupper Crock of Gold vii. 56 No allowances of hedgebote, or housebote. |
† 6. esp. A medicinal cure or remedy.
Obs.| a 1000 Cynewulf Elene 299 (Gr.) Þe eow eaᵹena leoht fram blindnesse bote ᵹefremede. a 1225 Ancr. R. 120 Monie kunnes remedies..& misliche boten. c 1305 St. Kath. 304 in E.E.P. (1862) 98 Noble relik hit is: sike men to habbe of bote. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 424 Anon he yaf the sike man his boote. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 45 Bote of [1499 or] helthe, salus. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark v. 27 She wente unto another for boote that put her in more assuraunce of healthe. |
† 7. Help or deliverance from evil or peril; assistance, relief, remedy, rescue. Often in
phr. boot of bale;
cf. bale n.1 6.
concr. A means or agent of help, relief, or remedy; also, a personal agent, a helper.
Obs. (or
arch.)
| a 1000 Cynewulf Andreas 949 (Gr.) Him sceal bot hraðe weorðan in worulde. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 398 Her ys seo bot hu ðu meaht þine æceras betan. 1297 R. Glouc. 408 Our Lorde..bote þerof him sende. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. vi. 196 For þat was bake for bayarde · was bote for many hungry. c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 928 God sende euery trewe man boote of his bale. c 1420 Sir Amadace xvii, God, that is bote of alle bale, Dame, Cumford the. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas i. iv. (1554) 8 a, The poore not wist where to find bote. 1513 Douglas æneis ii. vii. [vi.] 106 To vencust folkis is a confort and bute. 1557 Primer, Praier bef. Sacrament, I come as a wretche to thee my Lord..to thee my boote. 1591 Greene Maidens Dreame li. ‘Virgin’, quoth she, ‘no boot by tears is had’. 1867 G. Macdonald Poems 144 Laid his sword where he had found Boot for every bale. |
† b. to do (one) boot: to render help or remedy to; to be of service, advantage, or profit to; to do good to.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 88 (MSS. T.C.) Ne halp hit me nout to don her one bote. c 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 146 And euery gras that groweth vp on roote She shal eek knowe and whom it wol do boote. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 110 Two basketfull of bene chaf doth boote..to grettest treen. 1557 Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 177 As moules that want the earth to do them bote. 1609 F. Greville Mustapha v. Cho. i. (1633) 96 Meat, drinke, and drugges alike doe little boot. |
c. In apprecatory phrases: as
Saint George to boot! grace to boot! i.e. to our help.
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii. 301 This, and Saint George to boote. 1611 ― Wint. T. i. ii. 80 Grace to boot: Of this make no conclusion, least you say Your Queene and I are Deuils. 1599 Greene George a Gr. (1861) 257 Saint Andrew be my boot, But I'll raze thy castle to the very ground. |
d. In various proverbial phrases: as,
when bale is hext boot is next: see
bale n.1 7.
boot or bield: see
bield n. 3.
boot of beam: see
beam n.2; later
boot in beam and
booty beam (?
i.e. boot i' beam).
| 1642 Rogers Naaman 136 Which should..put boote in beame (as we say) securing her of a good and safe issue of her labour. Ibid. 257 What a stay, what boot in beame it is? 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 111 As it had not the latter by it self, so neither had it the former in booty beme, or a power in seed. |
† 8. A way of mending matters, help out of a difficulty; a better way, a resource, alternative, choice.
ther nis no bote: there is no help for it.
none other boot: no other resource, no alternative.
| a 1225 St. Marher. 15 Nis ther bote nan{revsc} bute fleon thenne. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1992 Ffor If he may this monstre overcome Thanne were he quyt; ther is non other bote. c 1410 Sir Cleges 355 Sir Cleges sey non othyr bote, But his askyng graunte he most. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxxiii. 220 Ther is no bote but deth. c 1505 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 309, I gert the buthman obey, ther wes no bute ellis. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccxcii. 674 There was none other boote for hym but to arme him. 1578 T. Proctor Gorg. Gallery I. 82 For though I serve untill I sterve, I see none other Boote. |
III. The making amends for mischief or wrong done; amends made.
† 9. Compensation paid, according to Old English usage, for injury or wrong-doing; reparation, amends; satisfaction made. (Only in
OE., except in late writers on legal antiquities, who usually retain the
OE. form
bót or
ME. bote.) In many combinations, as
man-bote,
kin-bote,
thief-bote, etc.
| a 1000 Beowulf 567 Bealuwa bisiᵹum bot eft-cuman. a 1000 Thorpe Laws I. 12 Ȝif feaxfang ᵹeweorþ, L scætta to bote. a 1450 Sc. Acts, 1 Robt. I, ix, Alsua it is ordainyt þat nane tak meyd of a theyff [or thyft bute]. a 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. Index (Jam.) The Wergelt, or Theiftbote of ane theife, is threttie kye. [1845 Stephen Laws Eng. in Edin. Rev. (1884) Apr. 339 ‘If the great toe be struck off, let twenty shillings be paid him as bot.’ 1854 Sir G. Nicholls Eng. Poor Law I. 13 ‘That he [the kinsman] make ‘bot’ for him.’ 1872 E. Robertson Hist. Ess. 178 Bot or personal compensation was paid to an ealderman, a bishop or an archbishop, by the man who fought, or drew his weapon in their presence.] |
† 10. Expiation of sin, an offering by way of atonement; sin-offering; repentance by act; penance.
Cf. dedbote.
Obs. (
exc. as the
OE. form may be cited by ecclesiastical antiquaries.)
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 35 Don we urum Drihtne soþe hreowe & bote. c 1000 ælfric Lev. iv. 28 And his gylt underᵹit, bring ane gat to bote to þam temple. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 15 Gif we nulleð gan to bote..hit is riht þet me us nede. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 69 Þe wile here bot dai laste..Ure bot dai is nu and lasteð þe wile þe god wile. a 1240 Ureisun 133 in Cott. Hom. 197 Þu ne uorsakest nenne mon..Ȝif he is to bote ȝeruh and bit þe uorȝiuenesse. [1844 Lingard Anglo-Sax. Ch. (1858) I. iii. 102 The fines arising from these ecclesiastical crimes were paid into the treasury of the bishop under the name of ‘bots’.] |
▪ II. † boot, n.2 Obs. Also 6–7
boote.
[App. an application of the prec., influenced by the already-existing booty; perhaps due to the phrase to make boot of, ‘to make profit of’ (cf. boot n.1 3, quot. 1606), being taken as ‘to make booty of’.] Booty; spoil; plunder.
| 1598 Chapman Iliad xi. 585 We foraged, as proclaimed foes, a wondrous wealthy boot..our prey was rich and great. a 1618 Sylvester Job Triumph. iii. 119 Rising be⁓times for Boot like Free-booters. 1623 Bingham Xenophon 119 It was decreed, that..all boot taken in priuate should be deliuered vp to the vse of the generalitie. |
b. esp. in
phr. to make boot.
| 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. i. 13 Thou that art his Mate, make boote of this. 1599 ― Hen. V, i. ii. 194 Others [Bees] like Souldiers..Make boote vpon the Summers Veluet buddes: Which pillage, they..bring home. 1596 Spenser F.Q. vii. vii. 38 Harvests riches, which he made his boot. 1641 Heywood Reader, Here you'l, &c. 5 They make Boote Of every thing we wear from head to foote. 1885 Child Ballads iii. §61. 57/2 Stopping only long enough to make boot of Hjelmer's gold. |
▪ III. boot, n.3 (
buːt)
Forms: 4–6
bote, 4–7
boote, 7–
boot. (Also 4–7
north. bute, 5
but, 6
botte,
bowtt, 6–7
Sc. buitt.)
[ME. bote, a. OF. bote (mod.F. botte), corresp. to Pr., Sp., Pg. bota, med.L. botta, bota, of uncertain origin. Identified by Diez, Littré, etc. with F.
boute (also, in
mod.F.,
botte) butt, cask, leathern vessel; but ‘the phonology of the two words in
OF. shows that they are quite distinct’ (P. Meyer). In
med.L. also
butta ‘butt’ and
botta ‘boot’ are never confounded, though
bota is frequent as a by-form of both, which has probably misled etymologists.]
1. a. A covering for the foot and lower part of the leg, usually of leather. (Distinguished from a
shoe by extending above the ankle. In earlier times used only by riders: see
quot. from Johnson.)
| c 1325 Poem temp. Edw. II, 26 Felted botys. Ibid. 55 Tho his botes be all totore. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 273 His bootes [v.r. botis, -es] clasped faire and fetisly. 1483 Cath. Angl. 49 A Bute [v.r. Buyt] of ledir or wandis. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. iii. 140 Get on thy Boots, wee'l ride all night. 1746 Rep. Cond. Sir J. Cope 116 This Morning Lord President call'd upon me in his Boots on his way Northward. 1755 Johnson Dict., Boot..a covering for the leg, used by horsemen. 1832 Tour Germ. Prince II. iii. 38 A plain farmer, in marsh-boots and waterproof cloak. 1835 Gentl. Mag. Nov. 491 My little kid-boots were sadly stain'd. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §18. 131 It is more difficult to fix the heel of the boot than the toe securely in the ice. |
b. Phrases.
† to make one boot serve for either leg (see
quot.);
the boot is on the other leg: the case is altered, the responsibility is on the other party;
the boot (is) on the wrong leg or foot;
to have (wish obs.) one's heart in one's boots: to be in a state of extreme fear (a ludicrous extension of ‘the heart sinks’);
† over shoes, over boots: expressing reckless continuance in a course already begun;
boot and saddle [perversion of F.
boute-selle ‘place saddle’; see
boute-selle], the signal to cavalry for mounting;
like old boots (slang): vigorously, thoroughgoingly; also
to put (or sink) in the boot or
to put the boot in (
esp. Austral. and
N.Z.): to kick (in a brutal manner); also
fig.;
boots and all (
Austral. and
N.Z. colloq.): with no holds barred, wholeheartedly; also
attrib.| 1533 More Debell. Salem Wks. 980/2 That their wordes should haue twoo senses, and one boote serue for either legge. 1642 Lords' Jrnls. in Rushw. IV. 559 b, Edward Sanderford..said..that the Earl of Warwick was a Traytor, and wished his Heart in his Boots. 1648 Sanderson Serm. (1681) II. 248 Over shoes, over boots; I know God will never forgive me, and therefore I will never trouble my self to seek His favour..this is properly the sin of despair. 1662 H. Foulis Hist. Wicked Plots (1674) 67 Which so much incensed the Commons that they (over Boots, over Shoes) fell to draw up another. 1697 Vanbrugh æsop 11, To boot and saddle again they sound. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 51 ¶1 The Sound was chang'd to Boots and Saddle. 1834 W. A. Caruthers Kentuckian in N.Y. I. 97 He's got the boot on the wrong leg. 1854 G. J. Whyte-Melville Gen. Bounce (1855) II. xvi. 47 The young woman as owns that house has got the boot on the other leg. 1856 J. Grant Black Drag. xii, Our trumpets blew ‘Boot-and-saddle’ in the streets. 1861 ‘F. G. Trafford’ City & Suburb 385 That's what I call putting the boot on the other leg with a vengeance. 1863 (title) The Boot on the Other Leg; or, Loyalty above Party. 1865 M. E. Braddon Sir Jasper xxvii. 282 I'll stick to you like old boots. 1866 F. Moore Women of War 173 ‘Ah,’ replied the jolly rebel, ‘the boot is on the other foot now.’ 1870 M. Bridgman R. Lynne I. xiii. 213 She's as tough as old boots. 1883 Harper's Mag. Sept. 592/2 [He] felt his courage oozing out at the seams of his boots. 1899 [see leg n. 2 a]. 1916 C. J. Dennis Songs Sentim. Bloke 42 Plunks Tyball through the gizzard wiv 'is sword, 'Ow I ongcored! ‘Put in the boot!’ I sez. ‘Put in the boot.’ c 1926 Transport Workers' Songbook (N.Z.) 107 All of them helping the worker down, by putting in the ‘boot’. 1936 G. B. Shaw Simpleton iii. 29, I should say..that the boot is on the other leg. 1942 V. Palmer in Coast to Coast 26 Wait till he gets his opening, Charlie will, and then sink in the boot. 1947 D. M. Davin Rest of our Lives xix. 96 The next thing he'll do is counter-attack, boots and all. 1949 Economist 10 Sept. 566 [N.Z. correspondent] Longer political experience, a greater tactical sense and a ‘boots-and-all’ ruthlessness. 1955 Times 13 Aug. 7/2 When the boot was on the other foot and his own Democratic Party was in opposition the People's Party, then in power, deplored their rivals' use of the boycott weapon. 1955 V. Palmer Let Birds Fly 128 This could be no light affair for either of them. ‘It's boots and all... Boots and all for both of us.’ 1964 Guardian 2 Mar. 7/6 When he's lying there some cow in the front row puts the boot in. |
c. to give (a person) the boot or the order of the boot: to ‘kick out’, dismiss, ‘sack’. So
to get the boot.
| 1888 Rider Haggard Col. Quaritch xii. 215 There'll be the money to take over the Moat Farm and give that varmint Janter the boot. 1904 Minister's Gaz. Fashion Dec. 219/2 His vivacious accounts of ‘padding the hoof’, getting the ‘boot’, [etc.]. 1917 ‘Taffrail’ Sub ii. 62 An habitual slacker..generally got the Order of the Boot at the end of his third term. 1927 R. A. Freeman Certain Dr. Thorndyke i. ii. 22 If you hadn't come I should have got the order of the boot to a certainty. |
d. U.S. slang. A recruit at a boot camp (see sense 8).
| 1915 Recruiter's Bull. (U.S.) Apr. 11/1 One of the ‘boots’ transferred to the Recruit Depot recently. 1944 [see sense 8 below]. 1963 Amer. Speech XXVIII. 78 It is taught to the ‘boot’ before he leaves boot camp. |
e. slang. A Negro.
| 1957 C. MacInnes City of Spades i. iii. 17 In England some foolish man may call me sambo, darkie, boot or munt or nigger. 1962 H. Simmons Man walking on Eggshells ii. xxii. 162 A lot of paddy studs still didn't know that boots were human. |
f. An act of kicking (a person, ball, etc.); a kick.
Cf. boot v.
3 4 a.
colloq.| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §689/2 Kick, boot. Spec. balloon, a lofty kick. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 14 May ii. 3/1 Joe bounced along the sidelines moaning about his team's mistakes until he finally found some one to agree with him. Then all was calm until the next boot. 1973 T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow i. 98 That one impromptu boot so impossibly high, so perfectly parabolic, the ball soaring miles. |
† 2. A piece of armour for the legs, a greave.
| 1388 Wyclif 1 Sam. xvii. 6 He hadde bootis of bras in the hipis [1382 stelyn legharneis]. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 65/4 He had botes of brasse in his cartes. 1609 Bible (Douay) 1 Sam. xvii. 6 He had brassen bootes on his thighes [1611 He had greaues of brasse vpon his legs]. |
3. An instrument of torture formerly used in Scotland to extort confessions from prisoners.
| 1513–75 Diurnal Occurrents (1833) 262 Ane Minister..quha wes extramelie pynnit in the beittis lang of befoir. 1580–1 Randolph in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) IV. 324 Being neither offered the boots, nor other kind of torment. 1618 Field Amends for L. i. i, The rack, strapado, or the boiling boot. 1663 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1829) 7 She is..put into the boots, and cruelly tortured, yet confesses nothing. c 1706 Vanbrugh Mistake i. i, Shall I draw him on a Scotch pair of boots, Master, and make him tell all? 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 333 They put a pair of iron boots close on the leg, and drive wedges between these and the leg. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxvi. 1865 Lecky Ration. (1878) II. 41 The bones of their legs were shattered in the boots. |
4. Part of a coach.
† a. The fixed external step of a coach (
cf. Fr. botte 5 in Littré);
b. An uncovered space on or by the steps on each side, where attendants sat, facing sideways; later, a low outside compartment before or behind the body of the vehicle.
Obs.| 1608 R. Armin Nest Ninn. 27 Shee sets in the boote and rides on. 1609 Dekker Gull's Horn-bk. i. (1862) 7 In the boots of which coach Lechery and Sloth sit like the waiting-maid. 1618 J. Taylor (Water P.) in Knight Once upon Time I. 152 Drawn sideways, as they are when they sit in the boot of the coach. 1626 Bacon Sylva §202 If in a Coach, one side of the Boot be down, and the other up. c 1645 Howell Lett. I. iii. 15. 1669 Lond. Gaz. No. 421/2, 5 or 6 persons..opening the boot of his Coach discharged on him their Pistoll. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams (1693) I. 196 (D.) He received his son into the coach, and found a slight errand to leave Buckingham behind, as he was putting his foot in the boot. 1714 T. Ellwood Autobiog. 10 My Father, opening the Boot, step't out, and I followed. 1716 T. Ward Eng. Ref. 400 Rogues to sally out And charge the Coach at either Boot. 1816 Scott Old Mort. ii, A chaplain stuffed into a sort of lateral recess, formed by a projection at the door of the vehicle, and called, from its appearance, the boot. |
c. The receptacle for luggage or parcels under the seats of the guard and coachman. (This appears to have been the fore and hind boot of sense b, covered in as a box, ? about the middle of the 18th c.) Now the ordinary name for the luggage compartment
usu. at the rear of a motor vehicle. Also
attrib.| 1781 Westm. Mag. IX. 13, I begged protection of the coachman, who advised me to get into the boot of the coach. 1807 Antidote Miseries Hum. Life 27 ‘Mind that sword-case in the boot’, cries the captain. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. iv, From the door of the hind boot of all the red coaches. 1868 W. E. Waters Life among Mormons 41 The mail is carried in the boots of stage-coaches. 1886 Leslie's Pop. Monthly XXI. 66/1 The great boot was securely strapped down over the baggage. 1933 Boy's Mag. XLVII. 35/1 The spare wheel is carried in an enclosed luggage boot at the rear. 1955 Times 29 June 12/6 The tailboard formed by the lowered boot-door. |
d. U.S. (See
quots.)
| 1828–32 Webster, Boot. 3... An apron or leathern cover for a gig or chair, to defend persons from rain and mud. This..application is local and improper. 1911 J. C. Lincoln Cap'n Warren's Wards i. 9 The ‘boot’ was a rubber curtain buttoned across the front of the buggy, extending from the dashboard to just below the level of the driver's eyes. |
5. A protective covering for the foot and part of the leg of a horse.
| 1812 Specif. Purden's Patent No. 3542 (title) An improved Horse boot. 1884 Longm. Mag. Apr. 610 The bright chest⁓nut, on which the trainer himself has mounted—after seeing him carefully fitted with ‘boots’, lest he should cut or overreach. |
6. In various technical uses:
a. Organ-building (see
quot.).
b. Metallurgy (see
quot.).
c. In bottling liquor: A leathern case in which to put a filled bottle while corking it (
cf. bottle-boot).
† d. A (leather) case for a fiddle.
| 1594 Lyly M. Bombie v. iii, A bots on the shoomaker that made this boote for my fiddle, 'tis too straight. 1881 C. A. Edwards Organs 139 The boot..encloses and supports the block..The boot also conveys the wind to the speaking part or reed. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Boot, a leather or tin joint connecting the blast-main with the tuyère or nozzle in a bloomary. |
e. The feathered legs of some varieties of pigeons and poultry.
| 1855 Poultry Chron. III. 348/2 The boots, or as Shanghai fanciers would style it, the vulture hock, must be white. 1875 Contemp. Rev. XXVI. 949 Instances..in which the feet of pigeons or fowls are abnormally feathered, or, as it is termed, furnished with ‘boots’. |
f. Ornith. An entire tarsal envelope characteristic of the legs of some birds.
| 1864 E. Coues in Proc. Philad. Acad. Nat. Sci. 82 The very long tarsi present the remarkable feature of having their anterior and lateral aspects covered with one smooth unbroken podotheca or ‘boot’. |
g. Short for
Denver boot s.v. Denver.
U.S.| 1968 Amer. City Apr. 146/1 The boot is a device that slips over the rim of a car's wheel so that it cannot be moved away. 1977 U.S. News & World Rep. 21 Mar. 80/3 One Washington resident recently received her second boot and had to pay $400 for 26 tickets accumulated over seven months. |
7. Comb., chiefly in
attrib. and objective relations: as
boot-binder,
boot-cleaning,
boot-edge,
boot-finisher,
boot-garter,
boot-heel,
boot-holder,
boot-lace,
boot-maker,
boot-making,
boot-nail,
boot-pattern,
boot-seam,
boot-sole,
boot-sponge,
boot-spur,
boot-upper (
upper n.1 1).
| 1862 Macm. Mag. May 67 One poor old woman, a *boot⁓binder. |
| 1838 Dickens O. Twist xviii, Went on with his *boot-cleaning. |
| 1824 Scott Redgauntlet I. 326 (D.) A handsome and flourishing pair of *boot-garters. |
| 1870 ‘Mark Twain’ Sk. New & Old (1875) 99 The rims of his *boot-heels. 1891 Kipling Light that Failed vii. 117 You're a work-woman, darling, to your boot-heels. 1920 D. H. Lawrence Lost Girl vii. 139 Striking a match on his boot-heel. |
| 1630 in Fairholt Costume (1846) 453 To a *bootmaker for one pair of boots, white and red, 14s. |
| 1871 Member for Paris I. 279 They would have taken to *boot-making. |
| a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal 42 A soldier leaves his *boot-nail in my hand. |
| 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus ii. i. (1619) 336 Though the ground in comparison be not better then a *bootshanke, as we vse to say. |
| 1863 Dickens Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings in All Year Round (Christmas no.) 6/1 My *boot-sponge was in my hand. |
| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxii, Clinking his *bootspurs, swaggering prodigiously. |
| a 1877 *Boot-upper [see boot-crimp in 8 below]. 1879 Birmingham Weekly Post 21 June 5/3 Charged with..stealing a quantity of boot-uppers. 1906 Times 13 Dec. 4/2 The [stolen] boot uppers were found at the shop. |
8. Special comb.: as
boot-black, a person who blacks boots, a shoe-black (chiefly
U.S.);
boot-blacking, (
a) the polishing of boots and shoes; also
attrib.; (
b) blacking for polishing boots and shoes;
boot-boy, (
a) a boy employed to clean boots and shoes; (
b) a violent or rowdy youth of a type characterized by assembling in gangs in search of trouble, wearing short-cropped hair and heavy boots;
= bovver boy s.v. bovver;
boot camp U.S. slang, a centre for the initial training of American naval or Marine recruits;
† boot-catch,
boot-catcher, a servant at an inn who pulled off the guests' boots;
boot-clamp,
-crimp (see
quots.);
boot-closer, one who sews together the upper leathers of boots;
boot-eater,
-eating (see
quot.);
boot-faced a. colloq. [
f. phr. to have a sea boot face, see
quot. 1925], grim-faced, sad-faced; with an expressionless face;
boot-grain, a cowhide leather used for heavy boots;
boot-gusset, elastic sides inserted in boots;
Boot Hill U.S., a graveyard or cemetery (
orig. joc. of a frontier cemetery, in allusion to its occupants' dying with their boots on);
freq. attrib.;
boot-hole, the place where boots are cleaned in a large establishment;
boot-hook, a hook for pulling on boots;
boot-hose = boot-stocking;
boot-housing (see
quot. and
housing);
boot-jack, a contrivance for pulling off boots;
† boot-ketch = boot-catcher; also
= boot-jack;
boot-last = boot-tree;
boot-laster, ? one who makes boot-lasts;
boot-lick,
v. to toady;
n. a toady (
U.S. slang);
boot machine operator,
boot machinist, any person engaged in any machine operation in the manufacture of boots;
bootman, a dealer in boots and shoes;
boot powder, a powder, as of soapstone, used for dusting the inside of a boot or shoe;
boot-rack, a rack or stand for holding boots;
boot-shank, the piece of leather placed between the outer and the inner sole in the waist of a boot;
† boot-sleeve, a wide kind of coat-sleeve;
boot-stocking, an over-stocking which covers the leg like a jack-boot;
boot-stretcher,
-tree, a shaped block inserted into a boot to stretch it or keep it in shape. Also
boot-top,
boot-topping.
| 1817 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. VIII. 246 They had a *boot-black and barber. 1864 Sala in Daily Tel. 25 Feb., That negro boot-black on the street corner. 1883 Harper's Mag. July 817/1 The San Francisco boot-blacks seem quite a model to their class. |
| 1866 J. C. Gregg Life in Army 139 Here are..*boot-blacking establishments. 1948 C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident iv. 45 Ted had smears of boot-blacking on his face and hands. |
| 1860 Trollope Tales of all Countries 58 ‘He, he, he,’ laughed the *boot boy as he turned them up for me to look at. 1925 W. Deeping Sorrell & Son ix. 84, I don't share out,—with the boot-boy. 1977 Chainsaw Sept./Oct. 7/2 And now we're getting fights down the King's Road at weekends between punks, teds and boot boys. 1984 Daily Tel. 25 Feb. 36/4 Mr John Cartwright, the SDP whip whose party has taken the brunt of the abuse said: ‘We are not going to be silenced by this sort of boot-boy tactics more suited to football hooligans than MPs.’ |
| 1944 G. P. Bailey Boot; a Marine in the Making Foreword, Marine inductees are called ‘Boots’ and it is Marine Corps custom to send them all through a grim process called ‘*boot camp’. 1955 C. S. Forester Good Shepherd 45 That boy was one of the new draft, fresh out of boot-camp. |
| 1775 Campbell Diary Visit Eng. 221 The number of churches I could not learn from our *boot catch guide. |
| 1745 Swift Direct. Servants (J.) The ostler and the *boot-catcher ought to partake. 1761 Colman Jealous Wife iv. ii, There's master, and John ostler, and bootcatcher, all gone after 'em. |
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Boot-clamp, a device for holding a boot while being sewed. |
| 1824 J. Constable Let. 12 July (1964) II. 360 Mary is married to her cousin..a *boot closer. |
| a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Boot-crimp, a tool or a machine for giving the shape to the pieces of leather designed for boot uppers. |
| 1880 Pall Mall G. 30 Dec. 11/1 A historic juror..is said to have given final..proof of his resolution to acquit a State defendant..by declaring that he would eat his boots before he would find the man guilty. A ‘*boot-eater’ now designates a particular species of juror. Rumour says there are at least nine boot-eaters in the Parnell jury. |
| [1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 253 To have a sea boot face, to look gloomy. 1942 M. Dickens One Pair of Feet viii. 180 Everyone wore a face like a boot.] 1958 A. Graham Foreign Affair ix. 111 Laughing nervously at the *boot-faced British. 1961 Bookseller 12 Aug. 1080/3 Commenting on this remarkable achievement..the Times is nicely bootfaced. 1965 J. Porter Dover Two ix. 108 He came down to breakfast more boot-faced than ever and lost no time in burying himself in the morning paper. |
| 1882 Daily News 4 Mar., A decline in the trade in *boot gussets in the elastic web manufacture. |
| [1886 Outing Jan. 398/2 Within the rail fence of ‘Boot-heel Cemetery’, at Flagstaff, my stopping-place, there were fourteen graves.] 1901 Everybody's Mag. June 582/2 Occasionally his six-shooter brought order and a new grave or two in *Boot Hill cemetery. 1930 E. Ferber Cimarron 160 The body..was interred in Boot Hill, with only the prowling jackals to mourn him. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 11/2 Boot hill, prison cemetery. 1948 Southern Sierran (Los Angeles) May 2/3 The rest of us took Wednesday for an auto trip..through Tombstone of the one and only Boothill Cemetery. 1962 Times 12 Apr. 7/3 There's an old saying that every boothill is ‘full of fellers that pulled their triggers before aimin'’. 1971 J. H. Gray Red Lights on Prairies i. 2 A poor town that could not boast of its local bad men or boothill cemetery. |
| 1902 Little Folks ii. 162/2 It was Grandmother who happened to discover him sitting in the *boot-hole under the stairs. |
| 1808 ‘A Connoisseur’ Fashionable Biogr. 83 Whether the Romans used *boot-hooks, and of what kind and shape, I have not been able to ascertain. |
| 1588 Lanc. & Ch. Wills III. 139 One paire of tawny stockes w{supt}{suph} toppes of *boothose of the same. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burn. Pestle iv. ii. (D.) The maid That wash'd my boot-hose. 1815 Scott Guy M. vii, The women spun mittens for the lady, and knitted boot-hose for the laird. |
| 1792 Osbaldistone Brit. Sportsman 432 Houzing, is either *boot-houzing or shoe-houzing; the former is a piece of stuff made fast to the hinder part of the saddle. |
| a 1841 T. Hook Ramsbottom Pap. in Casquet Lit. 1877 I. 117/1 Tall men are doubled up like *boot-jacks. |
| 1785 Mackenzie Lounger No. 54 ¶8 Sent the *boot-ketch to Hart's for a pair of Spanish boots. 1814 Scott Wav. xlix, I wish..I had recommended him to attend the circle this evening with a boot-ketch under his arm. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Embouchoir, a *Boot last, or Boot tree. |
| 1891 Daily News 30 Dec. 3/2 *Boot machinist. |
| 1927 Daily Express 27 May 6/1 [Obtainable] from all *Bootmen. Fixing Extra. |
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. xlix. 538 A *boot-rack and boot-jack. 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 277/2 Boot Racks..18 in—1/7½. |
| 1732 Fielding Miser i. vi, These *boot-sleeves were certainly intended to be receivers of stolen goods. |
| a 1807 Bowles Note to Banwell Hill (D.) In a pair of worsted *boot-stockings, which my father observed would keep my under⁓stockings from the dirt. 1834 Southey Doctor lvii. (1862) 126 You will not observe his boot-stockings coming high above the knees. |
| 1766 Croker, etc. Dict. Arts, *Boot-Tree, or Boot-Last, is a wooden cylinder slit into two parts, between which, when it is put into the boot, they drive..a wedge. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes xi, Pretty boots, trimly stretched on boot-trees. |
▪ IV. boot, n.4 Computing.
(
buːt)
[Shortened f. boot-strap, bootstrap n.] a. The operation or procedure of booting a computer or an operating system.
b. A bootstrap routine. See
boot v.
4| 1975 Eckhouse & Morris Minicomputer Systems vi. 169 The boot overlay code will overlay the first two instructions of the loader. 1983 W. S. Davis Operating Systems (ed. 2) xii. 234 The boot contains a small amount of program logic — just enough to read a sector or two from the system disk drive. 1983 [see boot v.4 2]. 1984 Phillips & Scellato Apple //c User Guide iv. 40 Insert the Apple at Play disk into the disk drive. The computer is still turned on, so you can try a procedure called a ‘cold boot’ that makes the Apple //c think it has just been turned on. |
▪ V. boot, v.1 (
buːt)
Forms: 4–6
bote(n, 5–6
boote, 6–
boot; also
north. 5
buten,
buytt, 5–6
bute.
[ME. bōten f. bōt, boot n.1, taking the place of beten (see beet), which was scarcely used in the south after the 14th c. Cf. boten.] † 1. trans. To make better; to cure, relieve, heal; to remedy.
Obs.| c 1330 Amis & Amil. 2340 Jesu that is heuen king, Schal bote the of thi bale. a 1450 Syr Eglam. 187 He was botyd of mekylle care. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 83 The sauour of hym boteth alle syknessis. |
† 2. trans. To make good (a deficiency), to make up (what is deficient); to add by way of equalizing the value of things exchanged; to give ‘into the boot’.
Obs.| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 382 Ther were chapmen y-chose þe chaffare to preise; Þat he þat hadde þe hod sholde nat habbe þe cloke. Þe betere þyng; by arbytours sholde bote þe werse. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 45 Botyn, or ȝeue more overe in barganynge, licitor, in precio superaddo. 1530 Palsgr. 461/1 What will you boote bytwene my horse and yours? |
3. To do good; to be of use or value; to profit, avail, help. (Only used in 3rd
pers.)
a. impers. (or with
it): chiefly negative and interrogative. (Usually followed by the real subject, as an infinitive phrase, or
subst. clause.)
| c 1400 Roland 499 It botes not to abide. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 66 The pore soule cried..but it boted not. 1564 Grindal Serm. Wks. (1843) 25 It needeth not or booteth not, as the old proverb goeth. 1591 Spenser Teares of Muses 445 What bootes it then to come from glorious Fore⁓fathers? 1656 Cowley Pind. Odes, Destinie iv, With Fate what boots it to contend? 1828 Arnold in Life & Corr. (1844) I. ii. 88 It boots not to look backwards. 1855 Browning Cleon in Men & Women II. 184 What boots To know she might spout oceans if she could? |
b. with dative object (or with
to.)
arch.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 3391 Me botis not barly your biddyng with stonde. 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. iii. 20 Him booteth not resist, nor succour call. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus i. 8. (1619) 175 It shall not boote a man to say in the day of iudgement, Lord, Lord. 1690 W. Walker Idiom. Anglo-Lat. 65 It will not boot you to say so. 1851 Thackeray Eng. Hum. i. (1858) 45 Boots it to you now, that the whole world loves and deplores you? |
c. with sense ‘it matters’.
| 1752 Young Brothers iii. i, What boots it which prevails? 1760 Sterne Tr. Shandy i. xix. 25 Little boots it to the subtle speculatist to stand single in his opinions. |
d. with
n. (
sing. or
pl.) as subject.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 47 Braulyng booted not. 1596 Drayton Legends iv. 30 Little, I feare, my labour Me will boot. a 1717 Parnell Poet. Wks. (1833) 64 What boots his hand, his heart, his head? 1795 Southey Poems 32 What boot to thee the blessings fortune gave? What boots thy wealth? 1884 Browning Ferishtah 18 Little boots Our sympathy with fiction! |
† 4. trans. To benefit, increase, enrich.
Obs. rare.
| 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. v. 71 And I will boot thee with what guift beside Thy modestie can begge. |
▪ VI. † boot, v.2 Obs. rare—1.
[cf. boot n.2, also MLG. bûten (Du. buiten) to make booty, to seize.] intr. ? To share as booty.
| 1554 Lydg. Bochas iv. xxiii. 120 b, His desire and his entencion Was to be boting [ed. 1494 has boty] with them of such pillage As goddes had in their possession. |
▪ VII. boot, v.3 (
buːt)
Forms: 5
bote(n,
-yn, (
bute), 7
boote, 6–
boot.
[f. boot n.3] 1. a. trans. To put boots on (another or oneself).
| 1468 Medulla Gram. in Cath. Angl. 49 note, Ocreo, to botyn. 1483 Cath. Angl. 49 To Bute [Buyyt], ocreare. 1600 Heywood 1 Edw. IV, ii. Wks. 1874 I. 33 Let me entreate you would go boote yourselues. 1693 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 272 To Boot, ocreas induere. Ballad ‘Young Redin’ x. in Allingham Ballad Bk. (1865) 285 They've booted him and spurred him. |
b. intr. (for
refl.) To put on one's boots.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. iii. 140 Get on thy Boots..Boote, boote, Master Shallow. 1813 Sir R. Wilson Diary II. 272 Many persons booting..for a journey to Paris. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho (1861) 95 Help me to boot and gird. |
2. trans. To torture with the
boot (
n.3 3).
| 1580–1 Randolph in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) IV. 324 He hath been sore booted. 1818 Scott Let. in Lockhart (1839) V. 282 Tradition says..Granger and his wife were booted. |
3. Mil. slang. To beat, formerly with a long jack-boot, now with a leather surcingle or waist-belt: an irregular conventional punishment inflicted by soldiers on a comrade guilty of dishonesty or shirking duty.
| 1802 C. James Milit. Dict. (1816) 84/2 Scabbarding a soldier, as in the infantry of the line, or booting him, as in the cavalry. |
4. a. To kick (a person).
| 1877 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 4) 59 To ‘boot a man’ is to kick him. 1883 D. C. Murray By Gate of Sea II. ix. 43, I have felt..an electric sensation in the right foot, indicative..of a desire to boot a noble swell or two who hover in her train. 1891 Daily News 11 Feb. 7/3 At him, lads! Boot and kick him! Kill him! 1892 Stevenson & Osbourne Wrecker xii. 195, I saw a big hulking beast of a Dutchman booting the ship's boy. 1913 ‘Ian Hay’ Happy-go-Lucky i, You will be booted for that afterwards, my lad. |
b. To eject (a person);
= kick v.
1 8 a. Also with
out. Also
fig.| 1880 Harper's Mag. Dec. 160/2 He angrily bade the bore to leave..and never show his face there again; if he did, he would be booted out. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 13 Nov. 2/2 Who flocked together in the House of Lords..to ‘boot’ the Home Rule Bill. 1907 Daily Chron. 5 Nov. 10/4 That German scrub wants me to boot [him]. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 1 Oct. 7/2 Burgess literally booted him out of his office. 1941 ‘R. West’ Black Lamb I. 317 Were not the Turks booted out of here in 1878? 1966 B. Kimenye Kalasanda Revisited 45 Though he led the ladies with charming politeness into his office, his baser instincts were at the same time urging him to boot the whole lot of them down the steps. |
5. To kick (the ball) with more than the usual vigour.
Football colloq.| 1914 Morning Post 2 Mar. 4/1 The ball was booted too hard and the defence got the touch down. 1932 A. J. Worrall English Idioms 14 The right-back booted the ball far up the field. |
▪ VIII. boot, v.4 Computing.
(
buːt)
[f. boot n.4] 1. trans. To prepare (a computer) for operation by causing an operating system to be loaded into its memory from a disc or tape,
esp. by a bootstrap routine; to cause (an operating system or a program) to be loaded in this way; to load the program on (a disc) into a computer's memory. Also
to boot up.
| 1980 M. E. Sloan Introd. Minicomputers & Microcomputers vi. 158 We turn the power knob to on, and depress the control and boot switches. We call this procedure booting the system{ddd}The computer is now in the machine language mode, in which machine language programs can be entered and run. 1982 Flores & Terry Microcomputer Systems ii. 40 Upon turn-on, control immediately goes to the ROM monitor or to BASIC, which issues a prompt. The operator then types in a monitor (or BASIC) command to boot the disk operating system. 1984 Hitching & Stone Understanding Accounting! i. 1 The data processing manager is rushing around making sure..that they have all remembered to ‘boot’ their disks before settling down with their micros! 1985 Personal Computer World Feb. 137/3 Booting up gem is an interesting experience. 1985 Pract. Computing May 82/1 When you first boot Deskmate it comes up in monochrome. 1986 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 30 Oct. 29/1 If you boot up your system without the keyboard being plugged in, you will see an error message. |
b. absol. with
up.
| 1983 Byte July 219/3 Once you get the two beeps, boot up with a scratch copy BASIC disk. 1986 What Micro? Apr. 30/1 Once you boot up and run the new Mac one difference is immediately apparent. |
2. intr. To undergo booting;
spec. (of an operating system) to be loaded into a computer's memory; (of a computer) to have an operating system loaded into it.
| 1983 Austral. Microcomputer Mag. Aug. 23/1 Programs that use their own loaders may or may not boot depending on the environment that happens to be established by the boot code. Pascal disks appear to boot without any problems. 1984 Computerworld 16 July 93/4 He inserted one IBM Personal Computer program and found it would not boot. 1985 Personal Computer World Feb. 146/3 When PCP/M has booted it provides the facility to autorun a program. 1986 Micro Decision Oct. 34/3 One of its purposes is to hold MS-DOS so that it can be loaded quickly to workstations when they boot up. |
Hence
ˈbooting vbl. n.4 (also with
up), the action of booting a computer, etc.
| 1982 380Z Disc System User Guide App. B. 2 Booting,..the process of loading system software from storage (usually cassette or disc) into computer memory. Firstly, a small part of the software..is loaded into memory, and is in turn used to pull in the rest of the system. 1984 J. Hilton Choosing & using your Home Computer iii. 80/1 This process of switching the computer on, then waiting for the DOS to take over, is called ‘booting-up’. 1985 Computing Equipment Sept. 6/1 System booting can be done directly from the hard disk. |
▪ IX. boot = behoved: see
bus v.