"That ball 'bolted' by so fast." What does the word 'bolted' mean in this sentence?

If you're learning about this I'm assuming your professor is also os already has taught you about context clues.

Considering the final sentence, "It was like a lightning strike", you're going to assume since lightning is extremely fast, so is what the word bolted means.

Make an extremely fast action, let's say.

Sorry if I made this more complicated than it had to be, just thought it deserved a valid explanation.

Hope this helped :)

one of the central themes of edward abbey's work has been his staunch opposition to the glen canyon dam on the colorado river that created lake powell, destroying stunning scenery and wildlife habitat, endangering many rare species of fish and animals, and also irreparably destroying many important archaeological sites which provided information about the early inhabitants of the united states.