English

edit

Etymology

edit

From un- +‎ bolt.

Verb

edit

unbolt (third-person singular simple present unbolts, present participle unbolting, simple past and past participle unbolted)

  1. (transitive) To unlock by undoing the bolts of.
    • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
      Then, sweet my lord, I’ll call mine uncle down;
      He shall unbolt the gates.
    • 1985 June 5, Anthony Depalma, “ABOUT REAL ESTATE; TRANSFORMING A WEST VILLAGE WAREHOUSE INTO OFFICES”, in The New York Times[1]:
      Diesel engines roar, trailer trucks rumble over the streets and an air wrench screams as a worker at the tire repair shop on the corner unbolts a wheel from a sanitation truck.
    • 2003 July 6, Edward Tenner, “'Our Own Devices'”, in The New York Times[2]:
      A young orangutan in the San Diego Zoo became famous for unbolting the screening of his crib, removing the wires, and moving through the zoo nursery, unscrewing lightbulbs.
    • 2006 November 12, Jeffrey Goldberg, “‘Prisoners’”, in The New York Times[3]:
      Then I hid the knife I kept under my pillow, cleaned the dust from my shoes, and carefully unbolted the door.

Translations

edit

Anagrams

edit