Forms: 1–4 bald, 3– bold, 4–7 bolde, 4–5 boold(e, 6 bould, 7 boulde. Also, 1 WSax. beald, 2–4 beld, 3 bæld; north. 3–6 bald, 3 baald, 4–5 balde (bowde), 5– bauld, 6 bawlde. [Com. Teut.: OE. bald (in WSax. beald) = OS., OHG. bald, MHG. balt-des (whence mod.G. bald adv. ‘quickly’), MDu. bout -de, Du. boud, ON. ball-r, Goth. *balþs, only found in derivatives, as balþei, balþjan:—OTeut. *balþo-z. No related words appear outside Teutonic.]
1. Of persons: Stout-hearted, courageous, daring, fearless; the opposite of ‘timid’ or ‘fearful.’ Often, with admiration emphasized = brave.
c. 1000. Ags. Ps. cxviii. [cxix.] 162. Ic blissiʓe bealde mode.
c. 1205. Lay., 16325. Þus bælde Hængest … cnihten alre-hændest. Ibid., 25410. Speke we of Arthur, baldest alre kinge.
1297. R. Glouc., 465. King Stefne was the boldore.
c. 1314. Guy Warw. (A.), 669. Feir & beld to tellen by.
a. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 6855. Swa hardy es na man, ne swa balde.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Serm., Sel. Wks. II. 36. So myȝten boolde men seie, to þes ordris.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 5952. So bold was no buerne his bir to withstond.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, II. 354. Baulder in battaill.
1593. Shaks., Lucr., 1430. When their brave hope, bold Hector, march’d to field.
1611. Bible, Prov. xxviii. 1. The righteous are bolde as a lyon.
1790. Burns, Tam O’Shanter. Inspiring bold John Barleycorn!
1842. Tennyson, To J. S., viii. A man more pure and bold and just Was never born.
1863. C. St. John, Nat. Hist. Moray, vii. 171. The Cormorant … is a bold, confident bird.
fig. 1611. Shaks., Wint. T., IV. iv. 125. Pale Prime-roses … bold Oxlips, and the Crowne Imperiall.
b. absol. A bold man. Now only pl. the bold.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 16055. He beheilde þa bitter bald.
a. 1400[?]. Morte Arth. (Roxb.), 81. That many a bolde sythen a bought.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 1210. Lamydon … Bare don mony bolde. Ibid., 1405. Mony boldes (?) for þat bright in batell be kylde.
1852. Tennyson, Ode Wellington, v. There he shall rest for ever Among the wise and the bold.
c. quasi-adv. = BOLDLY.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., I. iii. 3. The Duke of Norfolke, sprightfully and bold, Stayes but the summons of the Appealants Trumpet.
1598–9. Parismus, II. (1661), 24. I have the boldir presumed to detain you.
1786. Burns, To Edinb. Bold-following where your fathers led!
2. Of words, actions, etc.: Showing or requiring courage; daring, brave.
a. 1250. Owl & Night., 1715. Þurh belde worde.
c. 1320. Seuyn Sages (W.), 2042. A dede queinte and beld.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 7033. Of troye & grece þo batailes bolde [Cott. bald].
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., IV. v. 197. All these bold Feares … I haue answered.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 386. The bold design Pleas’d highly those infernal States.
1712. Pope, Rape Lock, I. 11. In tasks so bold can little men engage?
1844. Thirlwall, Greece, VIII. lxv. 351. Philopœmen then ventured on a very bold step.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 11. My former bold belief in my powers of conversing.
3. Phrases. To make (so) bold, to be (so) bold: to venture, presume so far as, take the liberty (to do a thing). † To make or be bold with (obs.): to take liberties, make free with.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 879. Ho hath been so bold … to sle myn lyff [i.e., Pyramus].
1393. Gower, Conf., II. 259. Iason … upon Medea made him bolde Of art magique.
a. 1535. More, Edw. V. (1641), Ded. I am bould to crave your patronage herein.
1596. Shaks., Tam. Shrew, I. ii. 251. Sir, let me be so bold as aske you. Ibid. (1598), Merry W., II. ii. 262. I will first make bold with your money. Ibid. (1599), Much Ado, III. ii. 8. Ibid. (1601), Jul. C., II. i. 86. I thinke we are too bold vpon your Rest. Ibid. (1613), Hen. VIII., III. ii. 318. You made bold To carry into Flanders, the Great Seale.
1676. ‘A. Rivetus, Jr.,’ Mr. Smirke, K ii b. Because they were all Christians, they thought … they might make the bolder with them, make bolder with Christ, and wound him again.
1699. Bentley, Phal., 216. Whether of these our Author made bold with, I cannot determin.
1852. M’Culloch, Taxation, II. ix. 337. We are bold to say that no instance can be found.
1876. Gladstone, Homeric Synchr., 166. Nothing, I make bold to say, can be more improbable than the common tradition respecting Memnon.
4. In bad sense: Audacious, presumptuous, too forward; the opposite of ‘modest.’
c. 1200. Ormin, 2185. Son se maȝȝdenn wurrþeþþ bald, Ȝho wurrþeþþ sone unnþæwedd.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 323. ‘Eue,’ seide he, ðat neddre bold, ‘Quat oȝet nu ðat for-bode o-wold.’
1340. Ayenb., 216. Naȝt þe bolde ne þe naȝt ssamueste.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 43. Bolde, presumptuosus, effrons.
1501. Douglas, Pal. Hon., II. 987. Ane deuill of hell, Is na compair to the iniquitie, Of bald wemen.
1505. Answ. Secret Instr. Hen. VII resp. Q. Naples. Not to bolde, but somewhat shamefast womanly.
1605. Shaks., Lear, I. iv. 263. Men so disorder’d, so debosh’d, and bold, That this our court … Shewes like a riotous Inne.
1733. Pope, Hor. Sat., II. i. 106. The bold front of shameless, guilty men.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, III. 233. You are bold indeed: we are not talk’d to thus.
Mod. A bold young woman.
† b. absol. An audacious or shameless person. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 8693. Do me bote a-gain þis bald. Ibid., 15378. Þat ilk es he, þat baald.
c. quasi-adv.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 7131. Vn-to þat birde was biddand bald, Sampson al þe soth’ hir tald.
5. Strong, mighty, big. (obs.) Of grain, etc.: Well-filled, plump. Of fire or wind: Strong, fierce (Sc.)
c. 1300. K. Alis., 5004. Wymmen there ben mychel and belde.
c. 1314. Guy Warw. (1840), 149. Forestes ful of hertes beld.
a. 1400. Cov. Myst., 3. He sent to Noe an Angel bolde.
c. 1505. Dunbar, ‘Now cumis Aige,’ ii. Trew luvis fyre nevir birnis bauld.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, XIII. iv. 65. The bald flambis and brym blesis stowt.
1724. Ramsay, Tea-t. Misc. (1733), I. 114. Boreas with his blasts sae bauld.
1787. Winter, Syst. Husb., 186. Being a bolder and better grain, weighed heavier.
1818. Scott, Rob Roy, xxix. ‘An the brandy hadna been ower bauld for your brain.’
1864. Times, 8 Dec., 6/1. Coffee … sold at 69s. to 72s. 6d., for good to fine ordinary bold.
† 6. Confident (in), certain, sure (of). Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 2675. Qua es not sua þai mai be bald, Þai sal not o mi folk be tald.
c. 1400. Ywaine & Gaw., 169. This ilk Knight, that, be ye balde, Was lord and keper of that halde.
c. 1435. Torr. Portugal, 2440. We wylle hym kepe and we may, Thereof be ye bold!
c. 1440. York Myst., viii. 119. He wille be my beylde, þus am I bowde.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 17 b. We sholde be bolde of his grace.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., V. i. 13. Be bold in vs, weele follow where thou lead’st. Ibid. (1611), Cymb., II. iv. 2. I would I were so sure To winne the King, as I am bold, her Honour Will remaine her’s.
1609. Holland, Amm. Marcell., XVIII. iv. 109. Bearing himselfe bold of helpe from those nations.
1616. R. C., Times’ Whis., ii. 703. These he dares be bolde, And more then these.
7. fig. Showing daring, vigor, or licence of conception or expression; vigorous, striking.
1656. Cowley, Pind. Odes, Pref. (J.). The Figures are unusual and bold, even to Temeritie.
1686. Waller, Poems, 168 (J.).
| Which no bold tales of Gods or Monsters swell, | |
| But humane Passions, such as with us dwell. |
1737. Pope, Hor. Epist., II. ii. 165. Mark where a bold expressive phrase occurs.
1763. Johnson, in Boswell, xv. (1848), 137/1. I do not think Gray a first-rate poet. He has not a bold imagination.
8. ‘Standing out to the view; striking to the eye’ (J.); firmly marked, ‘pronounced.’
1678. J. Phillips, Tavernier’s Trav., II. I. x. 64. Had it been finish’d … it had excell’d all the boldest structures of Asia.
1753. Scots Mag., July, 318/2. Her pulse easy, bold, and regular.
1775. Sheridan, Rivals, III. iv. (1883), 115. I’ll write a good bold hand.
1850. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., xxi. 225. His curling hair hung round a high, bold forehead.
1857. H. Miller, Test. Rocks, iii. 144. Standing out in bold relief.
1867. Lady Herbert, Cradle L., vii. 175. The walls are panelled with precious inlaid marbles, in bold patterns.
9. In Nautical lang., applied to a coast rising steeply from deep water; also, to the deep water close to such a shore: also, in ordinary lang., to any broad, steep or projecting face of rock. Of a ship: Broad and bluff in the bows.
1628. Digby, Voy. Medit. (1868), 13. It is a bold shore.
1697. Dampier, Voy. (1729), I. 34. A bold Shore, that is, high land and deep water close home by it.
1787. T. Jefferson, Writ. (1859), I. 96. At Honfleur … they can ride in bold water, in a good bottom.
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 170. Built unusually bold in their Bows.
1810. Scott, Lady of L., I. v. 12. The pine-trees blue On the bold cliffs of Ben-venue.
1860. Merc. Mar. Mag., VII. 196. The soundings … show bold water, from 19 to 75 fathoms, close in shore.
1862. Ansted, Channel Isl., I. v. (ed. 2), 111. The southern part of St. Ouen’s Bay is extremely bold.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Bold-shore, a steep coast where the water, deepening rapidly, admits the near approach of shipping without the danger of grounding. Ibid., Bold-to, steep-to.
10. Comb., as bold-hearted, -spirited; BOLD-FACE.
1853. De Quincey, Sp. Mil. Nun, Wks. III. 23. Our bold-hearted Kate.
1597. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., V. Ded. Confident and bold-spirited men.
1603. Knolles, Hist. Turks (1638), 286. One of the souldiers … a rough bold spirited fellow.
