What does bolting mean?
Bolting is the act of moving suddenly and uncontrollably — a horse bolting across a field, a crowd bolting for the exits, or an animal bolting at a loud noise. The word implies urgency and often panic: whatever is bolting is not merely fast, but fleeing or reacting without deliberation. A second, well-established sense belongs to gardening, where a plant such as lettuce, spinach, or basil is said to be bolting when it rushes into flower and seed, usually under heat or day-length stress; this renders its leaves bitter and ends the harvest, so growers watch anxiously for early signs of bolting. Less prominent senses include fastening components with bolts and gulping food quickly. Whether describing frightened livestock or ruined salad greens, bolting consistently evokes something happening too fast for anyone's comfort, which makes it a vivid, precise choice over vaguer terms like 'rushing' or 'running'.
A sudden dash or run, especially one made in panic or alarm; also, in horticulture, the premature flowering and seeding of a leafy crop plant.
"The rabbit's bolting into the hedge saved it from the fox."
Often used with 'go' or 'take' in the pattern 'go bolting'.
The present participle of the verb 'to bolt', used in continuous constructions to describe ongoing sudden movement or, in gardening, a plant actively shooting up to flower.
"The lettuce is bolting after this week's heatwave."
When gardeners say their lettuce is 'bolting', they're describing a plant's last-ditch rush to reproduce before conditions kill it — turning sweet leaves bitter almost overnight.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bolting
Bolting derives from 'bolt', a Middle English word whose earliest senses included a crossbow arrow and a lightning flash — both things that fly swiftly and without warning. That image of sudden, darting speed carried naturally into the verb 'to bolt', meaning to dash off or spring away, which has been in English since the Middle Ages. The gardening sense developed later by metaphor: a plant shooting up a flower stalk as abruptly as an animal takes flight. Cognate forms appear across Germanic languages, reflecting the word's Old English and Proto-Germanic roots.
Related word forms
How bolting is actually used
In everyday speech, 'bolting' most often describes sudden, panicked movement — it carries a connotation of urgency or loss of control rather than mere speed. The gardening sense is common among growers and seed catalogues but may be unfamiliar outside those circles. As a verb form ('is bolting'), it functions as the present participle of 'bolt'.
Easily confused with bolting
Jolting refers to a sudden shake or shock, whereas bolting refers to a sudden dash or escape.
Molding is shaping or forming material (or decorative trim), unrelated to the sense of rushing away that defines bolting.