Bull
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
bull
n 1: uncastrated adult male of domestic cattle
2: 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" [syn: {bull}, {bruiser}, {strapper}, {Samson}]
3: obscene words for unacceptable behavior; "I put up with a lot
of bullshit from that jerk"; "what he said was mostly bull"
[syn: {bullshit}, {bull}, {Irish bull}, {horseshit}, {shit},
{crap}, {dogshit}]
4: a serious and ludicrous blunder; "he made a bad bull of the
assignment"
5: uncomplimentary terms for a policeman [syn: {bull}, {cop},
{copper}, {fuzz}, {pig}]
6: an investor with an optimistic market outlook; an investor
who expects prices to rise and so buys now for resale later
[ant: {bear}]
7: (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Taurus
[syn: {Taurus}, {Bull}]
8: the second sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from
about April 20 to May 20 [syn: {Taurus}, {Taurus the Bull},
{Bull}]
9: the center of a target [syn: {bull's eye}, {bull}]
10: a formal proclamation issued by the pope (usually written in
antiquated characters and sealed with a leaden bulla) [syn:
{bull}, {papal bull}]
11: mature male of various mammals of which the female is called
`cow'; e.g. whales or elephants or especially cattle
v 1: push or force; "He bulled through his demands" [syn:
{bull}, {bull through}]
2: try to raise the price of stocks through speculative buying
3: speak insincerely or without regard for facts or truths; "The
politician was not well prepared for the debate and faked it"
[syn: {talk through one's hat}, {bullshit}, {bull}, {fake}]
4: advance in price; "stocks were bulling"
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Bull \Bull\, n. [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}.
[1913 Webster]
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}.
[1913 Webster]
A fresh bull of Leo's had declared how inflexible
the court of Rome was in the point of abuses.
--Atterbury.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
{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.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: See {Blunder}.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Bull \Bull\, n. [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. (Zool.) The male of any species of cattle ({Bovid[ae]});
hence, the male of any large quadruped, as the elephant;
also, the male of the whale.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The wild bull of the Old Testament is thought to be the
oryx, a large species of antelope.
[1913 Webster]
2. One who, or that which, resembles a bull in character or
action. --Ps. xxii. 12.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
At last from Aries rolls the bounteous sun,
And the bright Bull receives him. --Thomson.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Stock Exchange) 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.
[1913 Webster]
5. a ludicrously false statement; nonsense. Also used as an
expletive. [vulgar]
Syn: bullshit, Irish bull, horseshit, shit, crap, crapola,
bunk, bunkum, buncombe, guff, nonsense, rot, tommyrot,
balderdash, hogwash, dogshit.
[WordNet 1.5]
{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.
[1913 Webster]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Bull \Bull\, a.
Of or pertaining to a bull; resembling a bull; male; large;
fierce.
[1913 Webster]
{Bull bat} (Zool.), 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} (Zool.), the chub mackerel.
{Bull pump} (Mining), a direct single-acting pumping engine,
in which the steam cylinder is placed above the pump.
{Bull snake} (Zool.), 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.
[1913 Webster]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
316 Moby Thesaurus words for "bull":
Brahman, Dogberry, Indian buffalo, Irish bull, John Law,
Pastoral Epistle, aerogram, air letter, airgraph, anacoluthon,
andric, appointment, assault, aurochs, babble, balderdash, balls,
baloney, bear, bear the market, bear upon, beef, beef cattle,
beeves, big, bilge, billet-doux, billy, billy goat, bison, blabber,
blague, blah, blah-blah, blather, blatherskite, blooper,
bluebottle, bluecoat, blunder, boar, bobby, boner, boost, bop,
bosh, bossy, bovine, bovine animal, brevet, bubbly-jock, buck,
buffalo, bull account, bull the market, bulldoze, bullock,
bullshit, bump, bump against, bungle, bunk, bunkum, bunt, butt,
butt against, calf, carabao, catachresis, cattle, chain letter,
chanticleer, claptrap, cock, cockerel, commandant, constable, cop,
copper, cow, cram, crap, critter, crowd, custodian, dairy cattle,
dairy cow, dead letter, declaration, decree, decree-law,
decreement, decretal, decretum, dick, dictum, dig, diktat,
dimissorial, dimissory letter, dog, dogie, drake, drive, drivel,
drool, drop letter, edict, edictum, elbow, encyclical, entire,
entire horse, eyewash, fan letter, fat, fiat, flam, flapdoodle,
flatfoot, flattie, flimflam, fluff, folk etymology, force,
form letter, fuzz, gabble, gammon, gander, gaoler, gas, gendarme,
gentlemanlike, gentlemanly, gibber, gibble-gabble, goad, gobbler,
governor, grammatical error, great, guard, guardian, guff, gumshoe,
gup, hart, he-goat, heifer, hogwash, hoke, hokum, hooey,
hornless cow, hot air, humbug, humbuggery, hurtle, husky, hustle,
hypercorrection, hyperform, ipse dixit, jab, jabber, jailer, jam,
jiggery-pokery, jog, joggle, jolt, jostle, keeper, kine, lapse,
law, leppy, letter of credit, letter of introduction,
letters credential, letters of marque, letters of request,
letters overt, letters patent, letters rogatory, long,
long account, long interest, long side, longs, love letter,
malaprop, malapropism, malarkey, male, manful,
manipulate the market, manlike, manly, mannish, marrowsky,
masculine, maverick, milch cow, milcher, milk cow, milker,
mispronunciation, missaying, mistake, misusage, monitory,
moonshine, muley cow, muley head, musk-ox, neat, newsletter, nixie,
nudge, officer, open letter, ordinance, ordonnance, ox, oxen,
paddy, pastoral letter, peacock, peeler, peg the market, piffle,
pig, pile drive, poison-pen letter, poke, poppycock, prate,
prattle, press, principal keeper, prison guard, proclamation, prod,
pronouncement, pronunciamento, punch, push, raid the market, ram,
ram down, rattle, rescript, rig the market, rooster, rot,
round robin, rule, ruling, run, run against, scat, screw,
senatus consult, senatus consultum, shake, shamus, shit, shoulder,
shove, slip, solecism, spoonerism, stag, stallion, steer, stirk,
stot, stress, stud, studhorse, talk nonsense, tamp, the cops,
the fuzz, the law, thrust, tom, tom turkey, tomcat, tommyrot,
top cow, top horse, trip, tripe, tup, turkey gobbler, turkey-cock,
turnkey, twaddle, twattle, ukase, uneffeminate, vapor, waffle,
warden, warder, wash sales, wether, whipsaw, wind, wisent, yak,
yearling, zebu
from
Who Was Who: 5000 B. C. to Date
BULL
John, a fine, fat, American-beef fed individual who
inhabits a suffragette-infested island somewhere in the North
Atlantic. Born several hundred years ago and is beginning to
show his age. Is fond of the sea and is said to have a fine
fleet. This has had off years, notably 1812. B. has had
trouble with a son who wishes to leave the paternal protection.
Is fearless except when faced by a hunger strike, the Pankhurst
family, and thoughts of Germany. Patronizes a costly social
organization known as the Royal Family, or a reception
committee for American heiresstocracy, which also dedicates
buildings, poses for stamps, post-cards, motion pictures and
raises princesses of Wales for magazine articles and crowning
purposes. B. is a monitor of English style; wears a monocle,
spats, 'i 'at, cane, pipe, awful accent, and never makes his
appearance without a cawld bawth. He detests the word
"egotism." Is a celebrated humorist, seeing through all jokes
but himself. Ambition: 'Ome sweet 'Ome. Recreation: Tea,
Week Ends. Address: Hingland. Clubs: Policemen's, Golf,
Jockey, and Suffrage. Epitaph: See Emperor William Again.
grant@antiflux.org