To swallow food without chewing.--Forby.
Often my dame and I at home
Eat rav'nously of honey comb;
For lack of more substantial food,
We bolt this down, and call it good.
Reynard the Fox, p. 26.
TO BOLT
To start off suddenly in any direction. It is said in the first place of a horse starting from his course; and is then transferred to persons. Thus:
In she come, bolting into our room.--Maj. Downing, p. 54.
It is also applied especially to politicians who suddenly desert their party.
Mr. Poindexter has bolted from the Whigs, and united with the Democratic party for the war and the whole of Mexico.--Newspaper.
Perfectly upright.--Johnson. Used alike in England and the United States. As I stood bolt-upright u...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose