Webster
✕

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Bold

Bold (bōld), a. [OE. bald, bold, AS. bald, beald; akin to Icel. ballr, OHG. bald, MHG. balt, D. boud, Goth. balþei boldness, It. baldo. In Ger. there remains only bald, adv. soon. Cf. Bawd, n.] 1. Forward to meet danger; venturesome; daring; not timorous or shrinking from risk; brave; courageous.

Throngs of knights and barons bold. Milton.

2. Exhibiting or requiring spirit and contempt of danger; planned with courage; daring; vigorous. "The bold design leased highly." Milton.

3. In a bad sense, too forward; taking undue liberties; over assuming or confident; lacking proper modesty or restraint; rude; impudent.

Thou art too wild, too rude and bold of voice. Shak.

4. Somewhat overstepping usual bounds, or conventional rules, as in art, literature, etc.; taking liberties in composition or expression; as, the figures of an author are bold. "Bold tales." Waller.

The cathedral church is a very bold work. Addison.

5. Standing prominently out to view; markedly conspicuous; striking the eye; in high relief.

Shadows in painting . . . make the figure bolder. Dryden.

6. Steep; abrupt; prominent.

Where the bold cape its warning forehead rears. Trumbull.

Bold eagle, (Zoöl.) an Australian eagle (Aquila audax), which destroys lambs and even the kangaroo. — To make bold, to take liberties or the liberty; to venture.

Syn. — Courageous; daring; brave; intrepid; fearless; dauntless; valiant; manful; audacious; stouthearted; high-spirited; adventurous; confident; strenuous; forward; impudent.

Bold (bōld), v. t. To make bold or daring. [Obs.] Shak.

Bold, v. i. To be or become bold. [Obs.]

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.