to bolt out
- phrasal verb
- /boʊlt aʊt/
- Informal
- And without another word, they bolted out the door.
- bolted out the door
- bolted out of bed
- bolted out of the room
Examples
-
Danny quickly bolts out of his room and into the adjacent bedroom down the hall.
Fiction book (1998) -
Startled by the sudden shout, the children bolted out of the playground.
-
Several patients and medical personnel see the gun and bolt out the front door.
Fiction book (2002) -
"I know!" she said, and bolted out of the room.
Fiction book (1991) -
Pike looks at the window for a second, then bolts out of his room.
Fiction book (1992) -
Suddenly, he bolts out of bed and into Jack's office.
Fiction book (1998) -
She grabbed her vodka, she screamed, and she bolted out the door.
-
Despite his bravado all evening, Mr. Manulis panicked and bolted out of the car.
-
The black-and-white screeches to a stop, and Gentry bolts out of the sedan and runs toward the house.
Fiction book (1990) -
When she heard the loud noise, she bolted out of the room in fear.
Synonyms
Leave a place quickly or suddenly
To leave secretly and quickly to get away from danger or control
To run away from a place because it is dangerous
To leave a place quickly, often to travel somewhere else
To leave a place or person suddenly, often without saying goodbye
Leave suddenly to avoid a responsibility or task
Leave a place suddenly, often to avoid someone or something
To run away suddenly to escape danger
Go away suddenly without warning or explanation
To try to escape quickly, often by running
Leave suddenly because you are in a hurry
To leave a place quickly to avoid trouble or danger
To run away quickly because you are afraid
To leave a place suddenly without permission
To get out of a vehicle or place quickly with a small jump
Leave a place quickly to avoid trouble or danger
To leave a place suddenly and unexpectedly
Leave a place quickly because people are angry or you are in trouble
To leave a place quickly to escape danger
To leave quickly to avoid trouble or questions
Leave a place quickly because you are in a hurry
To leave a place quickly to avoid trouble
To leave a place quickly to be safe
Run away quickly to escape danger or trouble
To leave a place quickly to avoid danger or trouble
To leave a place quickly, often without saying goodbye
To run away quickly, usually because you are afraid
To run away quickly, usually because you are afraid
To leave a place suddenly, usually to go somewhere else
To leave quickly to avoid trouble or attention
To leave quickly and quietly without being noticed
Leave a place quickly because you are not welcome
To run away quickly to avoid being caught
Antonyms
How Sudden
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to leave a place suddenly and quickly' is directly and transparently derived from 'bolt' (to move suddenly/escape) combined with 'out' (away from the interior). This motion verb + particle pattern follows standard compositional English and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Bolt out comes from the image of a bolt like an arrow or a flash of lightning shooting out of a place in one sudden move, so the action feels very fast and direct. That's why it means 'to leave a place suddenly and quickly'.