bold

Definition of bold

15 senses · 4 parts of speech · etymology included

adj

Courageous, daring.

“Bold deeds win admiration and, sometimes, medals.”
“Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.”
“It would be extraordinarily bold of me to give it a try after seeing what has happened to you.”

See all 15 definitions

adj

Courageous, daring.

“Bold deeds win admiration and, sometimes, medals.”
“Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.”
“It would be extraordinarily bold of me to give it a try after seeing what has happened to you.”
Visually striking; conspicuous.

“the painter's bold use of colour and outline”
Having thicker strokes than the ordinary form of the typeface.

“Many bold fonts are available on this computer.”
“In HTML, wrapping text in <b> and </b> tags produces bold text.”
Presumptuous, forward or impudent.

“[…] even the boldeſt and moſt affirmative Philoſophy, which has ever attempted to impoſe its crude Dictates and Principles on Mankind.”
(Ireland)Naughty; insolent; badly-behaved.

“All of her children are terribly bold and never do as they are told.”
Full-bodied.
(Philippines)Pornographic; depicting nudity.

“The government warned bus operators against continuing to show bold content on buses.”
Steep or abrupt.

“The grounds descend with a bold slope to the water's edge, and rise finely upwards above the mansion, abounding with fine trees, and ornamented by a range of building at a distance, in a corresponding style […]”
(abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, not-comparable)Acronym of blood-oxygen-level dependent.

verb

(informal, transitive)To make (a font or some text) bold.

“Please bold all these subheads.”
(obsolete, transitive)To make bold or daring.

“[…] for this buſines, It touches vs, as France inuades our land Not bolds the King, with others whome I feare, Moſt iuſt and heauy cauſes make oppoſe.”
(intransitive, obsolete)To become bold or brave.

noun

(obsolete)A dwelling; habitation; building.

name

(countable, uncountable)A surname.
(countable, uncountable)A civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, Merseyside, England.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English bold, bolde, bald, beald, from Old English bald, beald (“bold, brave, confident, strong, of good courage, presumptuous, impudent”), from Proto-West Germanic *balþ, from Proto-Germanic *balþaz (“strong, bold”),…

See full etymology

From Middle English bold, bolde, bald, beald, from Old English bald, beald (“bold, brave, confident, strong, of good courage, presumptuous, impudent”), from Proto-West Germanic *balþ, from Proto-Germanic *balþaz (“strong, bold”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-, *bʰlē- (“to bloat, swell, bubble”). Cognate with Dutch boud (“bold, courageous, fearless”), Middle High German balt (“bold”) (whence German bald (“soon”)), Swedish båld (“bold, dauntless”). Perhaps related to Albanian ballë (“forehead”) and Old Prussian balo (“forehead”). Compare typologically Italian affrontare (“to face, to deal with”), sfrontato (“bold, daring, insolent”), both from Latin frons (“forehead”).

Anagrams of bold

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Words you can make from bold

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3-letter words

3 words

2-letter words

4 words

Hooks

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BOLDS 8 pts