bootstrap

[ boot-strap ]
See synonyms for bootstrap on Thesaurus.com
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
  1. relying entirely on one's efforts and resources: The business was a bootstrap operation for the first ten years.

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

verb (used with object),boot·strapped, boot·strap·ping.
  1. to help (oneself) without the aid of others: She spent years bootstrapping herself through college.

Idioms about bootstrap

  1. 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 of bootstrap

1
First recorded in 1890–95; boot1 + strap

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for bootstrap

bootstrap

/ (ˈbuːtˌstræp) /


noun
  1. a leather or fabric loop on the back or side of a boot for pulling it on

  2. by one's bootstraps or by one's own bootstraps by one's own efforts; unaided

  1. (modifier) self-acting or self-sufficient, as an electronic amplifier that uses its output voltage to bias its input

    • Also: boot a technique for loading the first few program instructions into a computer main store to enable the rest of the program to be introduced from an input device

    • (as modifier): a bootstrap loader

  2. commerce an offer to purchase a controlling interest in a company, esp with the intention of purchasing the remainder of the equity at a lower price

verb-straps, -strapping or -strapped (tr)
  1. to set up or achieve (something) using minimal resources

  2. (foll by to) to attach (something) to a larger or more important thing

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012