<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>a loop of leather or cloth sewn at the top rear, or sometimes on each side, of a boot to facilitate pulling it on.</li><li>a means of advancing oneself or accomplishing something: He used his business experience as a bootstrap to win voters.</li></ul><p><strong>Adjective</strong></p><ul><li>relying entirely on one's efforts and resources: The business was a bootstrap operation for the first ten years.</li><li>self-generating or self-sustaining: a bootstrap process.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>(used with object) bootstrapped, bootstrapping.</li><li>Computers: boot 1 (defs 21, 26).</li><li>to help (oneself) without the aid of others: She spent years bootstrapping herself through college.</li></ul>