<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>a covering of leather, rubber, or the like, for the foot and ankle, and usually all or part of the leg: She wore knee-high boots over her jeans.</li><li>an overshoe, especially one of rubber or other waterproof material: His rain boots protect his dress shoes from the mud.</li><li>any sheathlike protective covering: You can use a stiff piece of paper or foil as a boot for a damaged bicycle tire.</li><li>a protective covering for the foot and part of the leg of a horse.</li><li>a protective cover or apron for the driver's seat of an open vehicle.</li><li>the receptacle into which the top of a convertible car fits when lowered, or the cloth covering for it.</li><li>British. the trunk of an automobile: The spare tire's in the boot.</li><li>a kick.</li><li>the boot, Slang. a dismissal; discharge: They gave him the boot for coming in late.</li><li>Computers. an act or instance of starting up a computer or program.</li><li>a rubber covering for the connection between each spark-plug terminal and ignition cable in an automotive ignition system.</li><li>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.</li><li>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.</li><li>U.S. Navy, Marines. a recruit.</li><li>Music. the box that holds the reed in the reed pipe of an organ.</li><li>Informal. a sensation of pleasure or amusement: Watching that young skater win a gold medal gave me a real boot.</li><li>Baseball. a fumble of a ball batted on the ground, usually to the infield.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>(used with object) to kick; drive by kicking: The boy booted a tin can down the street.</li><li>Football. to kick.</li><li>Baseball. to fumble (a ground ball).</li><li>Computers. to start (a computer) by loading and initializing the operating system (often followed by up): I can't do that on my tablet so I'll have to boot up my desktop.</li><li>to start (a program) by loading the first few instructions, which will then bring in the rest (often followed by up).</li><li>Slang. to expel; discharge: They booted him out of school for selling drugs.</li><li>to put boots on; equip or provide with boots.</li><li>to attach a Denver boot to: Police will boot any car with unpaid fines.</li><li>to torture with a vise tightened around the leg by means of screws.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>(used without object) Computers. to start a computer or program, or be started in this way (often followed by up): My laptop won't boot and shows a blank screen.</li></ul>