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Glite Dictionary
to shoot your bolt

to shoot your bolt

1 8.6
To use up all your energy or chances so none remain
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : gastar todas tus balas
  • Don't shoot your bolt too early!

Examples

  • By the end of the first round, the boxer had shot his bolt and was too tired to continue.

  • He knew he had shot his bolt after delivering his best argument early in the debate.

  • Don't shoot your bolt before the project is halfway done; pace your efforts.

  • After spending all his savings, he has shot his bolt.

  • After working all night, she felt like she had shot her bolt and needed a break.

  • He shot his bolt in the first round of interviews, making it hard for him to impress the panel again.

  • By spending all his savings on the first investment, he really shot his bolt too soon.

Synonyms

to use up
vsto shoot your bolt
69 2.7

To finish all of something so nothing is left

applies to depleting resources or opportunities more broadly than literal supplies
to squander
vsto shoot your bolt
67 6.5

To use money, time, or chances in a foolish way

uses everything up without implying reckless or foolish waste
to shoot one's bolt
vsto shoot your bolt
  • Informal
8.8

To use up all your energy or chances

is identical in meaning but uses a direct second person form rather than neutral one
to empty the tank
vsto shoot your bolt
  • Informal
5.1

Use all your energy in a final effort until you have none left

is broader covering use of all resources or opportunities not just physical energy
to shoot one's load
vsto shoot your bolt
  • Offensive
9.9

Use all your energy at once and have none left in a rude way

is the neutral nonvulgar expression for expending everything

Antonyms

to save
842 1.0

Prevent the need to spend time or money

to reserve
145 3.1

To keep something for a particular person or purpose

How Depleted

to shoot your bolt
  • Informal
1 8.6
to use up
69 2.7

Surface Forms

shoot your bolt infinitive
shooting your bolt present participle
shoots your bolt third person singular
shot your bolt past
shot your bolt past participle

Morphology

shoot + your + bolt

There is a clear metaphorical link: firing or 'shooting' a projectile (bolt) suggests expending your ammunition, so the sense of using up one’s resources can be inferred from the parts. However, the specific idiomatic extension to energy/opportunities and the somewhat archaic/specialized sense of 'bolt' make the relation indirect and not fully predictable for a B1 learner who merely knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Shoot your bolt may come from old crossbows: a bolt is a short arrow, and if you fired your last one you had nothing left to shoot. That's why the phrase means 'to use up all your resources' or 'to be out of energy'.