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bootstrap - 6 dictionary results

boot⋅strap

[boot-strap]

noun, adjective, verb, -strapped, -strap⋅ping.

Use bootstrap in a Sentence

–noun

1.	a loop of leather or cloth sewn at the top rear, or sometimes on each side, of a boot to facilitate pulling it on.

2.	a means of advancing oneself or accomplishing something: He used his business experience as a bootstrap to win voters.

–adjective

3.	relying entirely on one's efforts and resources: The business was a bootstrap operation for the first ten years.

4.	self-generating or self-sustaining: a bootstrap process.

–verb (used with object)

5.	Computers. boot ¹ (def. 23).

6.	to help (oneself) without the aid of others: She spent years bootstrapping herself through college.

—Idiom

7.	pull oneself up by one's bootstraps, to help oneself without the aid of others; use one's resources: I admire him for pulling himself up by his own bootstraps.

Origin:
1890–95; boot ¹ + strap

boot

1 [boot]

–noun

1.	a covering of leather, rubber, or the like, for the foot and all or part of the leg.

2.	Chiefly British. any shoe or outer foot covering reaching to the ankle.

3.	an overshoe, esp. one of rubber or other waterproof material.

4.	an instrument of torture for the leg, consisting of a kind of vise extending from the knee to the ankle, tightened around the leg by means of screws.

5.	any sheathlike protective covering: a boot for a weak automobile tire.

6.	a protective covering for the foot and part of the leg of a horse.

7.	a protecting cover or apron for the driver's seat of an open vehicle.

8.	the receptacle or place into which the top of a convertible car fits when lowered.

9.	a cloth covering for this receptacle or place.

10.	British. the trunk of an automobile.

11.	a rubber covering for the connection between each spark-plug terminal and ignition cable in an automotive ignition system.

12.	Also called Denver boot. a metal device attached to the wheel of a parked car so that it cannot be driven away until a fine is paid or the owner reports to the police: used by police to catch scofflaws.

13.	U.S. Navy, Marines. a recruit.

14.	Music. the box that holds the reed in the reed pipe of an organ.

15.

a kick.

16.	Slang. a dismissal; discharge: They gave him the boot for coming in late.

17.	Informal. a sensation of pleasure or amusement: Watching that young skater win a gold medal gave me a real boot.

18.	Baseball. a fumble of a ball batted on the ground, usually to the infield.

–verb (used with object)

19.	to kick; drive by kicking: The boy booted a tin can down the street.

20.	Football. to kick.

21.	Baseball. to fumble (a ground ball).

22.	to put boots on; equip or provide with boots.

23.

Also, bootstrap. Computers.

a.	to start (a computer) by loading the operating system.

b.	to start (a program) by loading the first few instructions, which will then bring in the rest.

24.	Slang. to dismiss; discharge: They booted him out of school for not studying.

25.	to attach a Denver boot to: Police will boot any car with unpaid fines.

26.	to torture with the boot.

—Idioms

27.	bet your boots, to be sure or certain: You can bet your boots that I'll be there!

28.

die with one's boots on,

a.	to die while actively engaged in one's work, profession, etc.

b.	to die fighting, esp. in battle, or in some worthy cause.

Also, especially British, die in one's boots.

29.	get a boot, Informal. to derive keen enjoyment: I really got a boot out of his ridiculous stories.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME bote < AF, OF; of uncert. orig.

Link To bootstrap

boot·strap (bōōt'strāp')

A loop of leather, cloth, or synthetic material that is sewn at the side or the top rear of a boot to help in pulling the boot on.
An instance of starting of a computer; a boot.

tr.v. boot·strapped, boot·strap·ping, boot·straps

To promote and develop by use of one's own initiative and work without reliance on outside help: "We've bootstrapped our way back with aggressive tourism and recruiting high tech industries" (John Corrigan).
Computer Science To boot (a computer).

adj.

Undertaken or accomplished with minimal outside help.
Being or relating to a process that is self-initiating or self-sustaining.

Bootstrap

A situation in which an entrepreneur starts a company with little capital. An individual is said to be boot strapping when he or she attempts to found and build a company from personal finances or from the operating revenues of the new company.

Investopedia Commentary

Compared to using venture capital, boot strapping can be beneficial as the entrepreneur is able to maintain control over all decisions. On the downside, however, this form of financing may place unnecessary financial risk on the entrepreneur. Furthermore, boot strapping may not provide enough investment for the company to become successful at a reasonable rate.

Also spelled: Bootstrapping, Boot Strap, Bootstrap

bootstrap

To assist a new business in getting off the ground.

bootstrap operating system, compiler
To load and initialise the operating system on a computer. Normally abbreviated to "boot". From the curious expression "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps", one of the legendary feats of Baron von Munchhausen. The bootstrap loader is the program that runs on the computer before any (normal) program can run. Derived terms include reboot, cold boot, warm boot, soft boot and hard boot.
The term also applies to the use of a compiler to compile itself. The usual process is to write an interpreter for a language, L, in some other existing language. The compiler is then written in L and the interpreter is used to run it. This produces an executable for compiling programs in L from the source of the compiler in L. This technique is often used to verify the correctness of a compiler. It was first used in the LISP community.
See also My Favourite Toy Language.
[The Jargon File]
(2005-04-12)

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