bootstrap
bootstrap Lexical Profile
bootstrap Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To start up, build, or develop an enterprise or project using only personal savings, existing resources, and initial operating revenue without external investment.
"The founders decided to bootstrap their software company rather than give up equity to venture capitalists."
To initialize or load the operating system of a computer using a small initial program.
"The technician had to bootstrap the server manually after the power outage."
• noun
One's own unaided efforts or existing resources used to improve one's situation or build an enterprise (usually used in the plural).
"She raised the company from humble beginnings by her own bootstraps."
A self-starting process or technique in computing that loads the initial instructions to start up an operating system, or a statistical resampling method used to estimate properties of an estimator.
"The system failed during the initial bootstrap sequence because the disk sector was corrupted."
A loop of leather or strong fabric sewn at the top or back of a boot to help pull it on.
"He gripped the sturdy leather bootstraps and tugged his riding boots over his heels."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in the early 19th century as a compound of "boot" and "strap." Its figurative uses in business and computing derive from the 19th-century American idiom "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps," originally referring to a physically impossible task before evolving to mean succeeding through one's own unaided effort.