BULLY

bully, bang-up, corking, cracking, dandy, great, groovy, keen, neat, nifty, not bad, peachy, slap-up, swell, smashing, old

(adjective) very good; “he did a bully job”; “a neat sports car”; “had a great time at the party”; “you look simply smashing”; “we had a grand old time”

bully, tough, hooligan, ruffian, roughneck, rowdy, yob, yobo, yobbo

(noun) a cruel and brutal fellow

bully

(noun) a hired thug

browbeat, bully, swagger

(verb) discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate

bully, strong-arm, browbeat, bullyrag, ballyrag, boss around, hector, push around

(verb) be bossy towards; “Her big brother always bullied her when she was young”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

bully (countable and uncountable, plural bullies)

A person who is intentionally, physically, or emotionally cruel to others; especially to those who are weaker or have less power or privilege. [from late 17th c.]

A noisy, blustering fellow, more insolent than courageous; one who is threatening and quarrelsome; an insolent, tyrannical fellow.

A hired thug.

Synonyms: henchman, thug

A sex worker’s minder.

Synonyms: pimp, Thesaurus:pimp

(uncountable) Bully beef.

(obsolete) A brisk, dashing fellow.

The small scrum in the Eton College field game.

Various small freshwater or brackishwater fish of the family Eleotridae; sleeper goby.

(obsolete or dialectal, Irish and Northern England) An (eldest) brother; a fellow workman; comrade

(dialectal) A companion; mate (male or female).

Synonym: Thesaurus:friend

(obsolete) A darling, sweetheart (male or female).

Synonym: Thesaurus:sweetheart

(field hockey) A standoff between two players from the opposing teams, who repeatedly hit each other's hockey sticks and then attempt to acquire the ball, as a method of resuming the game in certain circumstances.

(mining) A miner's hammer.

Verb

bully (third-person singular simple present bullies, present participle bullying, simple past and past participle bullied)

(transitive) To intimidate (someone) as a bully.

Synonym: Thesaurus:intimidate

(transitive) To act aggressively towards.

Synonyms: push around, ride roughshod over

Adjective

bully (comparative bullier, superlative bulliest)

(US, slang) Very good.

Synonyms: excellent, Thesaurus:excellent

(slang) Jovial and blustering.

Synonym: dashing

Interjection

bully

(often, followed by for) Well done!

Synonym: Thesaurus:well done

Source: Wiktionary


Bul"ly, n.; pl. Bullies (. Etym: [Cf. LG. bullerjaan, bullerbäk, bullerbrook, a blusterer, D. bulderaar a bluster, bulderen to bluster; prob. of imitative origin; or cf. MHG. buole lover, G. buhle.]

1. A noisy, blustering fellow, more insolent than courageous; one who is threatening and quarrelsome; an insolent, tyrannical fellow. Bullies seldom execute the threats they deal in. Palmerston.

2. A brisk, dashing fellow. [Slang Obs.] Shak.

Bul"ly, a.

1. Jovial and blustering; dashing. [Slang] "Bless thee, bully doctor." Shak.

2. Fine; excellent; as, a bully horse. [Slang, U.S.]

Bul"ly, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bullied; p. pr. & vb. n. Bullying.]

Definition: To intimidate with threats and by an overbearing, swaggering demeanor; to act the part of a bully toward. For the last fortnight there have been prodigious shoals of volunteers gone over to bully the French, upon hearing the peace was just signing. Tatler.

Syn.

– To bluster; swagger; hector; domineer.

Bul"ly, v. i.

Definition: To act as a bully.

Bul"ly, n., Bul"ly beef`. [F. bouilli boiled meat, fr. bouillir to boil. See Boil, v. The word bouilli was formerly commonly used on the labels of canned beef.]

Definition: Pickled or canned beef.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

25 November 2024

ONCHOCERCIASIS

(noun) infestation with slender threadlike roundworms (filaria) deposited under the skin by the bite of black fleas; when the eyes are involved it can result in blindness; common in Africa and tropical America


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, on 25 September 2016, the Birla Institute of Management Technology (India) in Uttar Pradesh, India, constructed the largest coffee cups pyramid consisting of 23,821 cups. They used paper takeaway coffee cups to build the pyramid.

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