English · Idiom Candidate

shoot one's bolt

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To use up all one's resources or efforts at once

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

sử dụng tất cả nguồn lực hoặc nỗ lực cùng một lúc

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: release an arrow

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

He shot his bolt by spending all his money on the first investment

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “shoot one's bolt” mean?

To use up all one's resources or efforts at once Literally: release an arrow

Is “shoot one's bolt” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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