Definition of bolt from the blue : a complete surprise : something totally unexpected.
Why is bolt from the blue?
A bolt from the blue is a metaphorical phrase referring to a lightning bolt suddenly coming from a clear sky, something you wouldn’t expect. The word bolt refers to a lightning bolt (a flash of lightning), and the blue refers to a clear sky (a stormy sky might be grey or black).
How do you use a bolt from the blue?
Examples of a bolt from the blue
It was a bolt from the blue and in this case it affects me. I do not think hostilities have ever been begun except by something rather approaching a bolt from the blue. This latest development came to many of us who are concerned about the problem as a bolt from the blue.
What is a bolt of the blue Crisis?
Based on work within the Finnish organized crisis care network, A Bolt from the Blue shows how crisis care can be an integral part of health care services, covering all traumatic incidents from a death in the family to major accidents and disasters.
What is a bolt from the blue lightning?
A “bolt from the blue” is one of the most dangerous types of cloud to ground lightning because it happens without warning: a bolt that emerges from the side of a cloud that can travel through long horizontal channels before eventually striking the ground, several miles away from the parent storm.
What is the meaning of the idiom a bolt out of a clear sky?
Fig. suddenly and without warning. (Alludes to a bolt of lightning coming out of a clear blue sky.) The news came to us like a bolt from the blue.
Have shot one’s bolt meaning?
Do all within one’s power; exhaust one’s resources or capabilities. For example, They were asking for more ideas but Bob had shot his bolt and couldn’t come up with any, or Don’t shoot your wad with that article or you won’t have any material for the sequels.
Where does out of the blue come from?
The earliest known use of the expression out of the blue was in The French Revolution, written by Thomas Carlyle in 1837: “Arrestment, sudden really as a bolt out of the Blue, has hit strange victims.”
Do as directed make a meaningful sentence by using the phrase a bolt from the blue?
Government can have a policy of encouraging and then the next minute, a bolt from the blue, cuts in funding. It comes like a bolt from the blue, and our shipping could be put off the seas. That decision to sell came like a bolt from the blue.
What mean out of the blue?
phrase. If something happens out of the blue, it happens unexpectedly. One of them wrote to us out of the blue several years later.
What do lightning bolts mean?
The bolt of lightning is a traditional symbol of sudden illumination and the destruction of ignorance; it also represents a punishment of humans by the gods from the skies, most commonly attributed to Zeus, king of the gods.
Why is lightning bolt red?
The lightning bolt represents women’s power and serves as a warning to the Polish government. A red lightning bolt has become a powerful symbol of Poland’s feminist movement, which has rocked the country with the largest protests since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989.
What happens a lightning bolt out of the blue occurs?
A bolt from the blue is still cloud to ground lightning.It occurs when there is too much positive charge at the top of the cloud and a discharge is needed for balance. As a result of the charge being positive, the strike carries more power, can reach longer distances, and is hotter than a negative strike.
What is the meaning of idiom once in a blue moon?
Once in a blue moon: This poetic phrase refers to something extremely rare in occurrence. A blue moon is the term commonly used for a second full moon that occasionally appears in a single month of our solar-based calendars.
What does it mean to take a French leave?
a departure without ceremony, permission, or notice: Taking French leave, he evaded his creditors.
What does a fish out of water mean?
A person away from his or her usual environment or activities. For example, Using a computer for the first time, Carl felt like a fish out of water, or On a hiking trail, Nell was a fish out of water. This expression alludes to the fact that fish cannot survive for long on dry land. [ Late 1300s]
What does toe the line?
Meet a standard, abide by the rules, as in The new director will make us toe the line, I’m sure, or At daycare Brian has to toe the mark, but at home his mother’s quite lenient. This idiom refers to runners in a race placing their toes on the starting line and not moving until the starting signal.
What does bolting food mean?
transitive verb. If you bolt your food, you eat it so quickly that you hardly chew it or taste it.
What is the meaning of the idiom in a pickle?
in a difficult situation
But you know what it means: to be stuck in a difficult situation. English idioms are funny things, pulled out of the wordy hodgepodge of history, and “in a pickle” is one of the more obscure of the bunch.
What does blue stand for?
What is the association? The color blue represents both the sky and the sea and is associated with open spaces, freedom, intuition, imagination, inspiration, and sensitivity. Blue also represents meanings of depth, trust, loyalty, sincerity, wisdom, confidence, stability, faith, and intelligence.
What’s another word for Out of the blue?
In this page you can discover 9 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for out-of-the-blue, like: unprepared for, unlooked-for, unforeseen, unexpectedly, unplanned, not predicted, unanticipated, surprising and unexpected.
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