bootstrap
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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“I figured we can absolutely bootstrap this with no corporate background, just hard work and the American dream, we’ll work 80-plus hours a week, we’ll make it happen,” Lieu said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
“We built the Data Factory to bootstrap the initial intelligence for the Sonny robot, so that we can begin to deploy Sonny into the field,” said Josh Gruenstein, co-founder of Tutor.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026
The study also builds on earlier work by Caltech physicist Steven Frautschi and UC Berkeley physicist Geoffrey Chew, who pioneered the bootstrap approach in particle physics during the 1960s.
From Science Daily ● May 19, 2026
SilverSneakers represents just a small slice of that — the costs are not broken out by MedPAC — but it’s significant enough that the bootstrap venture has turned into a big business.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2025
A person who pulls himself up from a low environment via the bootstrap route has two choices.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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Those who pull themselves up by the bootstraps should be able to attain a life materially more comfortable than their parents’.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 20, 2025
We didn’t literally pull ourselves up by the bootstraps or walk to school through the snow without shoes.
From Salon ● Jan. 26, 2025
But in the U.S., the ethos of grinding and pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps is ubiquitous, both in the country’s beginnings and our current environment of always-on technology and work hours.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 15, 2024
Talking about the center, Mabon quoted the adage: “You can’t pull yourself up by the bootstraps if you don’t have boots.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2023
American autobiographical literature is filled with numerous accounts of remarkable men who pulled themselves to the summit by their bootstraps.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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But he’s bootstrapped himself into intelligence and with savvy networking and know-how, he becomes indispensable to the British, volunteering as a major to survey land and negotiate treaties with the Native tribes and French army.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
He bootstrapped that company and sold it for over $100 million in 2021.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
But many of these smaller livestream channels are more bootstrapped operations, adherent to the same grind culture their content facilitates.
From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2023
From Hewlett-Packard to Google, the tales of bootstrapped companies that have turned into giants has inspired generations of entrepreneurs.
From New York Times ● Jul. 5, 2023
“When we first started during the pandemic, we were entirely bootstrapped and still working other full-time jobs, while doing our best to keep up with the growth of Locale,” Clark said.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 29, 2022
Putting aside the chutzpah of the bootstrapping, it’s not clear that the court is wrong.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
Enter Dell Chandler, a failed English professor turned bootstrapping private detective, hired by Dr. Cutty to investigate.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
In your discussion of cheating social death, you reference "bootstrapping," which you describe as “using the established part of an existing system to create a new one that serves a fundamentally different form or function.”
From Salon ● Nov. 10, 2024
It’s a quintessential American story, of bootstrapping from the humblest of origins to the literal highest of heights.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2023
He had worked as a printer but was now bootstrapping his own print shop on a shoestring, and became entirely self-employed.
From How and When to Be Your Own Doctor by Solomon, Steve