Bolt vs. Lightning — What's the Difference?

A bar made of wood or metal that slides into a socket and is used to fasten doors and gates.

Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily equalize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of as much as one gigajoule of energy. This discharge may produce a wide range of electromagnetic radiation, from very hot plasma created by the rapid movement of electrons, to brilliant flashes of visible light in the form of black-body radiation.

A metal bar or rod in the mechanism of a lock that is thrown or withdrawn by turning the key.

An abrupt, discontinuous natural electric discharge in the atmosphere.

A fastener consisting of a threaded pin or rod with a head at one end, designed to be inserted through holes in assembled parts and secured by a mated nut that is tightened by applying torque.

The visible flash of light accompanying such a discharge.

A sliding metal bar that positions the cartridge in breechloading rifles, closes the breech, and ejects the spent cartridge.

(Informal) A sudden, usually improbable stroke of fortune.

A similar device in any breech mechanism.

To discharge a flash of lightning.

A short, heavy arrow with a thick head, used especially with a crossbow.

Moving or occurring with remarkable speed or suddenness.

A flash of lightning; a thunderbolt.

A flash of light produced by short-duration, high-voltage discharge of electricity within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the earth.

A sudden or unexpected event

A discharge of this kind.

A sudden movement toward or away.

(figuratively) Anything that moves very fast.

A large roll of cloth of a definite length, especially as it comes from the loom.

Rfv-sense|en}} {{obsolete form of lightening

To secure or lock with or as if with a bolt.

Extremely fast or sudden; moving (as if) at the speed of lightning.

To arrange or roll (lengths of cloth, for example) on or in a bolt.

To produce lightning.

To eat (food) hurriedly and with little chewing; gulp.

A discharge of atmospheric electricity, accompanied by a vivid flash of light, commonly from one cloud to another, sometimes from a cloud to the earth. The sound produced by the electricity in passing rapidly through the atmosphere constitutes thunder.

To desert or withdraw support from (a political party).

The act of making bright, or the state of being made bright; enlightenment; brightening, as of the mental powers.

To utter impulsively; blurt.

Lightening.

(Archaic) To shoot or discharge (a missile, such as an arrow).

Abrupt electric discharge from cloud to cloud or from cloud to earth accompanied by the emission of light

To move or spring suddenly.

The flash of light that accompanies an electric discharge in the atmosphere (or something resembling such a flash); can scintillate for a second or more

To start suddenly and run away

To break away from an affiliation, as from a political party.

(Botany) To flower or produce seeds prematurely or develop a flowering stem from a rosette.

To pass (flour, for example) through a sieve.

A (usually) metal fastener consisting of a cylindrical body that is threaded, with a larger head on one end. It can be inserted into an unthreaded hole up to the head, with a nut then threaded on the other end; a heavy machine screw.

A sliding pin or bar in a lock or latch mechanism.

A bar of wood or metal dropped in horizontal hooks on a door and adjoining wall or between the two sides of a double door, to prevent the door(s) from being forced open.

A sliding mechanism to chamber and unchamber a cartridge in a firearm.

A small personal-armour-piercing missile for short-range use, or (in common usage though deprecated by experts) a short arrow, intended to be shot from a crossbow or a catapult.

A lightning spark, i.e., a lightning bolt.

A sudden event, action or emotion.

A large roll of fabric or similar material, as a bolt of cloth.

(nautical) The standard linear measurement of canvas for use at sea: 39 yards.

A sudden spring or start; a sudden leap aside.

A sudden flight, as to escape creditors.

A refusal to support a nomination made by the party with which one has been connected; a breaking away from one's party.

An iron to fasten the legs of a prisoner; a shackle; a fetter.

A burst of speed or efficiency.

A stalk or scape (of garlic, onion, etc).

A sieve, especially a long fine sieve used in milling for bolting flour and meal; a bolter.

To connect or assemble pieces using a bolt.

To secure a door by locking or barring it.

(intransitive) To flee, to depart, to accelerate suddenly.

(transitive) To cause to start or spring forth; to dislodge (an animal being hunted).

To strike or fall suddenly like a bolt.

(intransitive) To escape.

To produce flower stalks and flowers or seeds quickly or prematurely; to form a bolt (stalk or scape); to go to seed.

To swallow food without chewing it.

To drink one's drink very quickly; to down a drink.

To refuse to support a nomination made by a party or caucus with which one has been connected; to break away from a party.

To utter precipitately; to blurt or throw out.

To sift, especially through a cloth.

To sift the bran and germ from wheat flour.

To separate, assort, refine, or purify by other means.

(legal) To discuss or argue privately, and for practice, as cases at law.

Suddenly; straight; unbendingly.

A shaft or missile intended to be shot from a crossbow or catapult, esp. a short, stout, blunt-headed arrow; a quarrel; an arrow, or that which resembles an arrow; a dart.

Lightning; a thunderbolt.

A strong pin, of iron or other material, used to fasten or hold something in place, often having a head at one end and screw thread cut upon the other end.

A sliding catch, or fastening, as for a door or gate; the portion of a lock which is shot or withdrawn by the action of the key.

An iron to fasten the legs of a prisoner; a shackle; a fetter.

A compact package or roll of cloth, as of canvas or silk, often containing about forty yards.

A bundle, as of oziers.

A sudden spring or start; a sudden spring aside; as, the horse made a bolt.

A sudden flight, as to escape creditors.

A refusal to support a nomination made by the party with which one has been connected; a breaking away from one's party.

A sieve, esp. a long fine sieve used in milling for bolting flour and meal; a bolter.

To shoot; to discharge or drive forth.

To utter precipitately; to blurt or throw out.

To swallow without chewing; as, to bolt food; often used with down.

To refuse to support, as a nomination made by a party to which one has belonged or by a caucus in which one has taken part.

To cause to start or spring forth; to dislodge, as conies, rabbits, etc.

To fasten or secure with, or as with, a bolt or bolts, as a door, a timber, fetters; to shackle; to restrain.

To start forth like a bolt or arrow; to spring abruptly; to come or go suddenly; to dart; as, to bolt out of the room.

To strike or fall suddenly like a bolt.

To spring suddenly aside, or out of the regular path; as, the horse bolted.

To refuse to support a nomination made by a party or a caucus with which one has been connected; to break away from a party.

To sift or separate the coarser from the finer particles of, as bran from flour, by means of a bolter; to separate, assort, refine, or purify by other means.

To separate, as if by sifting or bolting; - with out.

To discuss or argue privately, and for practice, as cases at law.

In the manner of a bolt; suddenly; straight; unbendingly.

A discharge of lightning accompanied by thunder

A sliding bar in a breech-loading firearm that ejects an empty cartridge and replaces it and closes the breech

The part of a lock that is engaged or withdrawn with a key

The act of moving with great haste;

A roll of cloth or wallpaper of a definite length

A screw that screws into a nut to form a fastener

A sudden abandonment (as from a political party)

Move or jump suddenly;

Secure or lock with a bolt;

Swallow hastily

Run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along

Leave suddenly and as if in a hurry;

Eat hastily without proper chewing;

Make or roll into bolts;

In a rigid manner;

Directly;