bolt to the bran

verb

To examine thoroughly, so as to separate or discover everything important.

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Meanings

verbbolt to the bran (third-person singular simple present bolts to the bran, present participle bolting to the bran, simple past and past participle bolted to the bran)

present singular third person bolts to the bran · participle present bolting to the bran · participle past bolted to the bran · past bolted to the bran

  1. idiomatictransitiveTo examine thoroughly, so as to separate or discover everything important.

    This boults the matter fairly to the bran.

    1735, Walter Harte, An Essay on Reason
    1 more example

    The report of the committee was examined and sifted and bolted to the bran.

    1795–1797, Edmund Burke, “(please specify |letter=1 to 4)”, in [Letters on a Regicide Peace], London: [Rivington]

Origin

See bolt (“sieve”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bolt to the bran. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bolt%20to%20the%20bran

MLA

“bolt to the bran.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bolt%20to%20the%20bran. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bolt to the bran,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bolt%20to%20the%20bran.

Source: bolt to the bran on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.