Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BOLT, n. [Dan. bolt; Russ. bolt; D. bout; G. bolzen; Sax. bolta, catapulta, that which is driven, from the roof of Gr. βαλλω, L. pello.]

1. An arrow; a dart; a pointed shaft. – Dryden.
2. A strong cylindrical pin, of iron or other metal, used to fasten a door, a plank, a chain, &c. In ships, bolts are used in the sides and decks, and have different names, as rag-bolts, eye-bolts, ring-bolts, chain-bolts, &c. In gunnery, there are prise-bolts, transom-bolts, traverse-bolts, and bracket-bolts.
3. A thunder-bolt; a stream of lightning, so named from its darting like a bolt.
4. The quantity of twenty-eight ells of canvas. – Encyc.