subs. (old).—The throat. As verb = to eat hurriedly without chewing; to swallow whole; to gulp down.
1794. WOLCOT (‘Peter Pindar’), Ode to Tyrants, in Wks. (Dublin, 1795), vol. II., 527.
| Bold push’d the Emp’ror on, with stride so noble, | |
| BOLTING his subjects with majestic gobble. |
1821. W. T. MONCRIEFF, Tom and Jerry, Act iii., Sc. 3. Tom. Here, Dusty, my prince, now then, sluice your BOLT. (Gives Bob gin.) Bob. Vell, your honours, here’s luck. (Bolts gin.) That’s a regular kwortern, I knows by my mouth.
1843. DICKENS, Martin Chuzzlewit, xvi., 171. Dyspeptic individuals BOLTED their food in wedges.
1857. DICKENS, Little Dorrit, bk. I., xiii., 101. ‘Give me as short a time as you like to BOLT my meals in, and keep me at it.’
1883. Daily Telegraph, Jan. 10, 5, col. 3. The dangerous habit of BOLTING a light luncheon in two or three minutes.
Verb (old: now recognised).—1. To escape; to leave suddenly.
1668. ETHEREGE, She Would if She Could, I., i. (1704), 94. Is he gone? Court. Ay, ay! you may venture to BOLT now.
1712. ARBUTHNOT, The History of John Bull, pt. IV., vi. Then, of a sudden, BOLTING into the room, he began to tell …
1752. FIELDING, Amelia, bk. XI., vii. In his way home, Booth was met by a lady in a chair, who immediately upon seeing him … BOLTED out of it.
1821. W. T. MONCRIEFF, Tom and Jerry, Act i., Sc. 7. Log. Come along, then. Now, Jerry, chivey! Jerry. Chivey? Log. Mizzle? Jerry. Mizzle? Log. Tip your rags a gallop! Jerry. Tip my rags a gallop? Log. Walk your trotters! Jerry. Walk my trotters? Log. BOLT! Jerry. BOLT? oh, aye! I’m fly now. You mean go.
1837. R. H. BARHAM, The Ingoldsby Legends (The Merchant of Venice).
| Jessy ransack’d the house, popp’d her breeks on, and when so | |
| Disguis’d, BOLTED off with her beau—one Lorenzo. |
1843. DICKENS, Martin Chuzzlewit, ix., 90. He was more strongly tempted … to make excursive BOLTS into the neighbouring alleys when he answered the door.
2. (American).—To revolt against party rule, as ‘He BOLTED the party nominations.’ Also substantively, as ‘He has organized a BOLT.’
1871. St. Louis Democrat, 3 April. ‘Several of our contemporaries have announced it as a well-established fact, that Carl Schurz has BOLTED from the Republican party. We have the very best authority for denying the report.’
1888. Chicago Daily Inter Ocean, 3 Feb. What the Register does object to are the fellows who BOLT the ticket and support the opposition candidate when they can not control nominations.
TO GET THE BOLT, phr. (thieves’).—To be sentenced to penal servitude: cf. BOAT.
TO TURN THE CORNER OF BOLT STREET, phr. (common).—To run away: cf. BOLT and QUEER STREET.
TO BOLT (or SHOOT) THE MOON. See MOON.
