BULL

bull

(noun) a serious and ludicrous blunder; “he made a bad bull of the assignment”

bull

(noun) mature male of various mammals of which the female is called ‘cow’; e.g. whales or elephants or especially cattle

bull

(noun) uncastrated adult male of domestic cattle

bullshit, bull, Irish bull, horseshit, shit, crap, dogshit

(noun) obscene words for unacceptable behavior; “I put up with a lot of bullshit from that jerk”; “what he said was mostly bull”

bull, papal bull

(noun) a formal proclamation issued by the pope (usually written in antiquated characters and sealed with a leaden bulla)

Taurus, Taurus the Bull, Bull

(noun) the second sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about April 20 to May 20

Taurus, Bull

(noun) (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Taurus

bull, bruiser, strapper, Samson

(noun) a large and strong and heavyset man; “he was a bull of a man”; “a thick-skinned bruiser ready to give as good as he got”

bull

(noun) an investor with an optimistic market outlook; an investor who expects prices to rise and so buys now for resale later

bull, cop, copper, fuzz, pig

(noun) uncomplimentary terms for a policeman

bull

(verb) advance in price; “stocks were bulling”

bull

(verb) try to raise the price of stocks through speculative buying

bull, bull through

(verb) push or force; “He bulled through his demands”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology 1

Noun

bull (countable and uncountable, plural bulls)

An adult male of domesticated cattle or oxen.

Specifically, one that is uncastrated.

A male of domesticated cattle or oxen of any age.

Any adult male bovine.

An adult male of certain large mammals, such as whales, elephants, camels and seals.

A large, strong man.

(finance) An investor who buys (commodities or securities) in anticipation of a rise in prices.

(slang) A policeman.

(US) Specifically, a policeman employed in a railroad yard.

(UK, historical, obsolete slang) A crown coin; its value, 5 shillings.

(UK) Clipping of bullseye.

(military, firearms) The central portion of a target, inside the inner and magpie.

(Philadelphia, slang) A man.

(uncountable, informal, euphemistic, slang) Clipping of bullshit.

A man who has sex with another man's wife or girlfriend with the consent of both.

(obsolete) A drink made by pouring water into a cask that previously held liquor.

Synonyms

• (slang: male person): guy, dude, bro, cat

• (slang: policeman): cop, copper, pig (derogatory), rozzer (British). See also police officer

Antonyms

• (finance: investor who sells in anticipation of a fall in prices): bear

Coordinate terms

• cow, ox, calf, steer

Adjective

bull (not comparable)

Large and strong, like a bull.

• Synonyms: beefy, hunky, robust

• Antonyms: feeble, puny, weak

(of large mammals) adult male

Synonym: male

Antonym: female

(finance) Of a market in which prices are rising (compare bear)

Antonym: bear

stupid

Synonym: stupid

Etymology 2

Shortened from bullshit

Verb

bull (third-person singular simple present bulls, present participle bulling, simple past and past participle bulled)

(intransitive) To force oneself (in a particular direction).

(intransitive) To lie, to tell untruths.

(intransitive) To be in heat; to manifest sexual desire as cows do.

(UK, military) To polish boots to a high shine.

(finance, transitive) To endeavour to raise the market price of.

(finance, transitive) To endeavour to raise prices in.

Etymology 3

Noun

bull (plural bulls)

A papal bull, an official document or edict from the Pope.

A seal affixed to a document, especially a document from the Pope.

Verb

bull (third-person singular simple present bulls, present participle bulling, simple past and past participle bulled)

(dated, 17th century) to publish in a Papal bull

Etymology 4

Noun

bull (uncountable)

A lie.

(euphemistic, informal) Nonsense.

Synonyms

• (nonsense): See also nonsense

Verb

bull (third-person singular simple present bulls, present participle bulling, simple past and past participle bulled)

to mock, cheat

Etymology 5

Noun

bull (plural bulls)

(16th century, obsolete) A bubble.

Proper noun

Bull

A surname derived from the name of the animal.

Source: Wiktionary

Bull, n. Etym: [OE. bule, bul, bole; akin to D. bul, G. bulle, Icel. boli, Lith. bullus, Lett. bollis, Russ. vol'; prob. fr. the root of AS. bellan, E. bellow.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Definition: The male of any species of cattle (Bovidæ); hence, the male of any large quadruped, as the elephant; also, the male of the whale.

Note: The wild bull of the Old Testament is thought to be the oryx, a large species of antelope.

2. One who, or that which, resembles a bull in character or action. Ps. xxii. 12.

3. (Astron.) (a) Taurus, the second of the twelve signs of the zodiac. (b) A constellation of the zodiac between Aries and Gemini. It contains the Pleiades. At last from Aries rolls the bounteous sun, And the bright Bull receives him. Thomson.

4. (Stock Exchange)

Definition: One who operates in expectation of a rise in the price of stocks, or in order to effect such a rise. See 4th Bear, n., 5. Bull baiting, the practice of baiting bulls, or rendering them furious, as by setting dogs to attack them.

– John Bull, a humorous name for the English, collectively; also, an Englishman. "Good-looking young John Bull." W. D.Howells.

– To take the bull by the horns, to grapple with a difficulty instead of avoiding it.

Bull, a.

Definition: Of or pertaining to a bull; resembling a bull; male; large; fierce. Bull bat (Zoöl.), the night hawk; -- so called from the loud noise it makes while feeding on the wing, in the evening.

– Bull calf. (a) A stupid fellow.

– Bull mackerel (Zoöl.), the chub mackerel.

– Bull pump (Mining), a direct single-acting pumping engine, in which the steam cylinder is placed above the pump.

– Bull snake (Zoöl.), the pine snake of the United States.

– Bull stag, a castrated bull. See Stag.

– Bull wheel, a wheel, or drum, on which a rope is wound for lifting heavy articles, as logs, the tools in well boring, etc.

Bull, v. i.

Definition: To be in heat; to manifest sexual desire as cows do. [Colloq.]

Bull, v. t. (Stock Exchange)

Definition: To endeavor to raise the market price of; as, to bull railroad bonds; to bull stocks; to bull Lake Shore; to endeavor to raise prices in; as, to bull the market. See 1st Bull, n., 4.

Bull, n. Etym: [OE. bulle, fr. L. bulla bubble, stud, knob, LL., a seal or stamp: cf. F. bulle. Cf. Bull a writing, Bowl a ball, Boil, v. i.]

1. A seal. See Bulla.

2. A letter, edict, or respect, of the pope, written in Gothic characters on rough parchment, sealed with a bulla, and dated "a die Incarnationis," i. e., "from the day of the Incarnation." See Apostolical brief, under Brief. A fresh bull of Leo's had declared how inflexible the court of Rome was in the point of abuses. Atterbury.

3. A grotesque blunder in language; an apparent congruity, but real incongruity, of ideas, contained in a form of expression; so called, perhaps, from the apparent incongruity between the dictatorial nature of the pope's bulls and his professions of humility. And whereas the papist boasts himself to be a Roman Catholic, it is a mere contradiction, one of the pope's bulls, as if he should say universal particular; a Catholic schimatic. Milton. The Golden Bull, an edict or imperial constitution made by the emperor Charles IV. (1356), containing what became the fundamental law of the German empire; -- so called from its golden seal.

Syn.

– See Blunder.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

BULL

Etymology 1

Noun

Synonyms

Antonyms

Coordinate terms

Adjective

Etymology 2

Verb

Etymology 3

Noun

Verb

Etymology 4

Noun

Synonyms

Verb

Etymology 5

Noun

Proper noun

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