What does "boot" mean?

1. (footwear) a strong shoe that covers your foot and part of your leg. 2. (car storage) the space at the back of a car where you put bags and luggage. 3. (starting a computer) the process of starting or restarting a computer. 4. (a kick) a hard hit with the foot. 5. (to start a computer) to turn on a computer and wait for it to be ready to use. 6. (to kick) to hit something hard with your foot. 7. (to fire someone) to force someone to leave a job or a place.

boot — meaning, definition & examples

Q: Is it correct to say "I put the groceries in the car's trunk while in London."?

No — say "I put the groceries in the car's boot while in London.". In British English, use 'boot'; 'trunk' is the American equivalent.

Word

01footwear

A1 · Beginner Countable noun

n. a strong shoe that covers your foot and part of your leg.

n. a sturdy item of footwear extending above the ankle, designed for protection or support.

“You should wear warm boots if you are going for a walk in the snow.”

“The hikers laced up their waterproof leather boots before attempting the steep, muddy ascent toward the mountain ridge.”

Synonyms

footwearwellie

02car storage

A2 · Elementary Countable noun British English

n. the space at the back of a car where you put bags and luggage.

n. the enclosed luggage compartment of a motor vehicle, typically located at the rear.

“We managed to fit all three suitcases into the boot of the small car.”

“The family struggled to close the boot after packing the camping gear, eventually deciding to leave the bulky chairs behind.”

Pitfall

I put the groceries in the car's trunk while in London.

I put the groceries in the car's boot while in London.

In British English, use 'boot'; 'trunk' is the American equivalent.

Synonyms

trunk

03starting a computer

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Computing

n. the process of starting or restarting a computer.

n. the sequence of operations that initializes an operating system when a computer is powered on.

“The computer takes a long time to finish its boot process in the morning.”

“A corrupted system file caused the server to fail during the initial boot, requiring a manual override from the IT department.”

Synonyms

startup reboot

Antonyms

shutdown

04a kick

B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun Informal

n. a hard hit with the foot.

n. a forceful blow delivered with the foot, often used figuratively for a dismissal.

“He gave the old machine a boot to try and make it work again.”

“The striker gave the ball a powerful boot, sending it flying past the goalkeeper into the top corner of the net.”

Synonyms

kick blow

05to start a computer

B1 · Intermediate Computing

v. to turn on a computer and wait for it to be ready to use.

v. to load an operating system into a computer's main memory; often used with 'up'.

“Wait a moment while I boot up my laptop so I can show you the photos.”

“The technician instructed the staff to boot the workstations simultaneously to test the network's peak load capacity.”

Synonyms

start upinitialize

06to kick

B1 · Intermediate Sports

v. to hit something hard with your foot.

v. to strike something with the foot; in sports, to kick a ball with great force.

“The player booted the ball down the field to clear it from the goal.”

“Frustrated by the delay, the passenger booted his suitcase across the terminal floor, drawing stares from the security guards.”

Synonyms

kick punt

07to fire someone

B2 · Upper Intermediate Informal

v. to force someone to leave a job or a place.

v. to dismiss someone from employment or to eject them from a group or location.

“He was booted from the team after he missed three practices in a row.”

“The board of directors decided to boot the CEO after the company's stock price plummeted for the fourth consecutive quarter.”

Synonyms

fire dismiss eject

Antonyms

hire recruit

* As an English surname, from the noun boot. * As a Dutch and German surname, from Bote (“messenger”), compare Bode. Also an occupational surname for a boatman, from boot.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

NOUN

boot(A1)

bootstrap(C1)