bootstrap
to build something, especially a business, with little money and without much help from others
To start or develop a company, project, or process with very little money or outside help, often by using existing resources and reinvesting early income.
to make a computer system or software environment start and prepare itself to run
To start a computer, device, program, or software environment by loading the basic code needed for it to operate.
a small piece of software that helps a larger system start
A small program, code segment, or startup procedure that loads or initializes a larger computer system or software environment.
a statistics method that repeats sampling from the same data to estimate how uncertain a result is
A statistical method that estimates uncertainty or a sampling distribution by repeatedly taking new samples, usually with replacement, from the observed data.
to use repeated samples from the same data to estimate uncertainty in a result
To estimate a statistic, confidence interval, model error, or sampling distribution by repeatedly resampling the observed data, usually with replacement.
a small loop on a boot that helps you pull it onto your foot
A loop or strap attached to a boot and used to help pull the boot on.
- Base: bootstrap
- Plural: bootstraps
- Base: bootstrap
- 3rd Person Singular: bootstraps
- Present Participle: bootstrapping
- Past: bootstrapped
bootstrap paradox
1time-loop origin paradox
a time-travel situation where something exists because of a loop, so no one clearly created it first
- The film uses a bootstrap paradox: the hero learns a song from his future self, so no one actually writes it.
- Fans still debate the show's bootstrap paradox involving the mysterious notebook.
- A classic bootstrap paradox asks what happens if a time traveler gives Shakespeare a copy of his own plays.
- The story has a bootstrap paradox.
- The book came from the future, so its origin is a bootstrap paradox.
pull oneself up by one's bootstraps
1succeed by one’s own effort
to succeed or improve your life by working hard without help
- Her grandfather said he pulled himself up by his bootstraps and built the shop from nothing.
- Critics argue that telling people to pull themselves up by their bootstraps ignores real barriers.
- The phrase is often used to praise self-reliance, but it can also sound dismissive.
- He pulled himself up by his bootstraps.
- She worked hard and pulled herself up by her bootstraps.