🚪 Sudden leaver 🌾 A flour sifter 🏃 One who runs away 🍽️ Quick eater 🥬 Plant gone to seed

bolter

8.1

An animal or person that suddenly runs away when startled

noun
/ˈboʊltər/

: fugador

The horse was a notorious bolter, often escaping from the stable at the slightest noise.

Examples

During the race, the greyhound turned out to be a bolter, sprinting away from the pack at full speed.
When the fire alarm rang, he became a bolter, rushing out of the building without looking back.
- Who's a little bolter, hey?

Girl Asleep (2015)

Synonyms

escaper

vsbolter

5.1

A person or animal that gets away from a place where they were kept

runs away suddenly in a startling uncontrolled way rather than leaving to gain freedom

Antonyms

to stay

∞ 1.0

To remain in one place and not leave

How Sudden

bolter

8.1

runaway

77 3.9

escapee

23 4.5

absconder

Formal

1 8.7

leaver

2 5.8

Surface Forms

bolter singular

bolters plural

Morphology

bolter = bolt (transparent) = bolt + er

The meaning of 'bolter' as someone or something that runs away is a clear derivation from 'bolt'.

Etymology

Bolter (person or animal that runs away) comes from the idea of bolt as a sudden, fast movement (think of a lightning bolt), so a bolter is someone or an animal that suddenly runs off.