TO MAKE A SHAFT OR A BOLT OF IT, verb. phr. (old).—To take a risk for what it is worth; to venture.
1596. SHAKESPEARE, Merry Wives of Windsor, iii. 4, 24. I’ll MAKE A SHAFT OR A BOLT ON’T: ’slid, ’tis but venturing.
1617. HOWELL, Familiar Letters, I. iii. 24. The Prince is preparing for his journey; I shall to it again closely when he is gone, or MAKE A SHAFT OR A BOLT ON IT.
