bolds

1. 1
   nounobsolete

   Plural of bold.

   Note

   Two quite different things can be counted with this plural. The old noun bold, meaning a dwelling or building, is obsolete, so its plural belongs to older writing. In living use, bolds comes from type design. The adjective for heavier strokes is used as a noun, so a printer can weigh two bolds as two weights of a typeface. The same spelling also serves the verb for making text bold.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of bold.

   The software automatically bolds any text marked as a heading.

   He bolds the important terms so students notice them quickly.

   Note

   In current use it is an informal word from editing and design, and it is transitive: something always gets bolded, such as a heading, a key term or a line of text. Older English had a verb bold meaning to make someone daring, or to grow brave oneself. Both are obsolete, so in an old text the verb points to courage, not typography.

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