bolo

plural bolos

1. A long, heavy, single-edged machete.
2. attributiveA type of punch; an uppercut.

   He jerked me off balance and the hand with the brass knucks came around in a looping bolo punch.

   1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin, published 2010, page 141

present singular third person bolos · participle present boloing · participle past boloed · past boloed

1. transitiveTo cleave or dismember (a person or an animal) with a bolo knife.

   1 more example

   "In the first place," began Drina, "you are to lie down flat on the floor and creep about and show us how the Moros wriggle through the grass to bolo our sentinels." […] Selwyn, sitting up rumpled and cross-legged on the floor, after having boloed Drina to everybody's exquisite satisfaction, looked around at the sudden rustle of skirts to catch a glimpse of a vanishing figure—a glimmer of ruddy hair and the white curve of a youthful face, half-buried in a muff.

   1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “His Own People”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, pages 13–14

plural bolos

1. A soldier not capable of the minimum standards of marksmanship.

present singular third person bolos · participle present boloing · participle past boloed · past boloed

1. To fail to meet the minimum standards of marksmanship.

plural bolos

1. A string or leather necktie secured with an ornamental slide.

present singular third person bolos · participle present boloing · participle past boloed · past boloed

1. nonce wordtransitiveTo dress (somebody) in a bolo.

   Selwyn, sitting up rumpled and cross-legged on the floor, after having boloed Drina to everybody's exquisite satisfaction, looked around at the sudden rustle of skirts to catch a glimpse of a vanishing figure—a glimmer of ruddy hair and the white curve of a youthful face, half-buried in a muff.

   1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC

plural bolos · alternative BOLO

1. USgovernmentA request for law enforcement officers to be on the lookout for a suspect.

   Synonyms: all-points bulletin, APB

plural BOLOs · alternative BOL · alternative bolo

1. USabbreviationacronymgovernmentA broadcast issued from a law enforcement agency to others, typically containing information about a wanted suspect, a person of interest, or a related vehicle.

   Freeman was able to locate the male and recognized him from a BOLO.

   2017 June 13, Keith Lane, “Frederick Freeman named MPD Officer of the Month”, in Local 15, retrieved 16 Jun 2017

   2 more examples

   William Davis Jr. admitted he had been drinking and driving, but he said he shouldn’t have been caught. Even though police had issued a BOLO or “be on the lookout” for his car and an officer testified Davis made several traffic violations, he said there wasn’t enough probable cause for the initial traffic stop that turned into a DUI. […] Davis said he should not have been stopped because the BOLO for his car was not checked out before he was pulled over, but Justice Cornelia Clark pointed out that shouldn’t matter.

   2015 September 10, “Knoxville attorney admits to DUI, argues he shouldn’t have been pulled over”, in WATE, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2016

   Police had issue^([sic – meaning issued]) a BOLO alert for Brown and the children when he suddenly arrived in the emergency room of Central Florida Regional Hospital, looking for his wife.

   2016 April 20, Mo Barnes, “Father kills estranged wife, shoots kids”, in RollingOut, archived from the original on 21 May 2024, retrieved 16 Jun 2017

   Synonyms: all-points bulletin, APB

1. A barangay of Roxas, Capiz, Philippines.

plural Bolos

1. abbreviationclippingearly 20th c.Clipping of Bolshevik.

   [G]round strafing, however, was as exciting as in France, particularly when it was carried out dozens of miles behind the Bolo lines.

   1938, Ira Jones, An Air Fighter's Scrapbook, London: Nicholson & Watson, page 86