bolt cutter
12
3.9
- noun
- /boʊlt ˈkʌtər/
:
cortacadenas
- The workers used a bolt cutter to remove the old padlocks from the gates.
- a pair of bolt cutters
- use bolt cutters
- need a bolt cutter
So the guy had up there first with the bolt cutters.
- So the guy had up there first with the bolt cutters.
Examples
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A pair of bolt cutters snaps the chain off a single-engine Cessna.
Fiction book (2001) -
You have to use bolt cutters to get these out of their little cages.
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Looking for a pair of bolt-cutters, of course.
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- You know where the bolt cutters are at?
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You got those bolt cutters in your car?
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Do you know what bolt cutters are?
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- Did you get bolt cutters?
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We need some bolt cutters and spare air fast!
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I found where a bolt cutter had been used to breach the chain-link fence.
Fiction book (1998) -
The door of the house hung open, held precariously by a single hinge screw, its lock cut off long ago with bolt cutters.
Fiction book (2000)
How Strong
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'bolt cutter' is transparently compositional: 'bolt' (a metal fastener) + 'cutter' (a tool for cutting) yields the straightforward meaning 'a tool for cutting bolts'. This noun–noun construction follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The noun bolt cutter comes from a simple picture: a heavy tool with long handles whose jaws cut a bolt, and the word cutter simply says what it does. So, the name explains why it means 'a heavy tool for cutting metal bolts, chains, or padlocks'.