boot

boot¹ W3S2 [bu:t] n

[Sense: 1-3, 5-7; Date: 1300-1400; : Old French; Origin: bote]

[Sense: 4; Date: 1300-1400; : Old English; Origin: bot 'advantage, profit, use']

1.) a type of shoe that covers your whole foot and the lower part of your leg

→↑Wellington

▪ hiking boots

▪ a pair of walking boots

2.) BrE an enclosed space at the back of a car, used for carrying bags etc

American Equivalent: trunk

▪ The new model has a bigger boot.

3.) the boot informal

when someone is forced to leave their job

= ↑the sack

→↑dismiss

▪ The chairman denied that he had been given the boot .

▪ He should have got the boot years ago.

4.) to boot

in addition to everything else you have mentioned

▪ She was a great sportswoman, and beautiful to boot.

5.) put the boot inBrE informal

a) to criticize or be cruel to someone who is already in a bad situation

b) to attack someone by kicking them repeatedly, especially when they are on the ground

6.) the boot is on the other foot

BrE used to say someone who has caused problems for other people in the past is now in a situation in which people are causing problems for them

7.) AmE a metal object that the police attach to one of the wheels of an illegally parked car so that it cannot be moved

British Equivalent: wheel clamp

→be/get too big for your boots at ↑big¹ (14), lick sb's boots at ↑lick¹ (7), tough as old boots at ↑tough¹ (2)

boot ²

boot² v

[Sense: 1; Date: 1900-2000; Origin: bootstrap 'to boot up' (1900-2000), probably from bootstrap (noun); BOOTSTRAPS]

[Sense: 2-3; Date: 1800-1900; Origin: BOOT¹]

1.) also boot up [I and T]

to start the program that makes a computer ready to be used

→↑load

2.) [T] informal

to kick someone or something hard

boot sth in/round/down etc

▪ The goalkeeper booted the ball upfield.

3.) [T] AmE

to stop someone from moving their illegally parked vehicle by fixing a piece of equipment to one of the wheels

British Equivalent: clamp

boot out [boot sb<=>out] phr v

to force someone to leave a place, job, or organization, especially because they have done something wrong

= ↑throw out

▪ His fellow students booted him out of the class.