To run suddenly out of one’s house, or hiding place, through fear; a term borrowed from a rabbit-warren, where the rabbits are made to bolt, by sending ferrets into their burrows: we set the house on fire, and made him bolt. To bolt, also means to swallow meat without chewing: the farmer’s servants in Kent are famous for bolting large quantities of pickled pork.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
Bolt Upright * BonesNathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes