[f. BOLT v.2 + -ER1.]
1. One that bolts or runs; esp. a horse that bolts.
1840. Thackeray, Paris Sk. Bk. (1872), 244. The engine may explode … or be a bolter.
1871. Le Fanu, Checkmate, II. xiii. 123. Kickers and roarers, and bolters and jibbers.
2. One who ‘bolts’ from his party. (U.S.)
1883. Atl. Monthly, LII. 327. To whom a ‘scratcher’ or a ‘bolter’ is more hateful than the Beast.
1884. American, VIII. 100. To denounce the twenty-seven as bolters from their party.
