(of a disk, drive, or other device) able to start up a computer by loading the operating system
I created a bootable USB drive to install the new operating system.
"Make sure the CD is bootable before you try to repair the laptop," the technician advised.
✦ Formed from the computing verb “boot” (to start up a computer) + the adjective-forming suffix “-able,” meaning “capable of.” The word began appearing in technical manuals in the 1970s.
