BULLDOG (bulldogging)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: bulldogging   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does bulldog mean? 

• BULLDOG (noun)
  The noun BULLDOG has 1 sense:

1. a sturdy thickset short-haired breed with a large head and strong undershot lower jaw; developed originally in England for bull baiting

  Familiarity information: BULLDOG used as a noun is very rare.

• BULLDOG (verb)
  The verb BULLDOG has 2 senses:

1. attack viciously and ferociously

2. throw a steer by seizing the horns and twisting the neck, as in a rodeo

  Familiarity information: BULLDOG used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BULLDOG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A sturdy thickset short-haired breed with a large head and strong undershot lower jaw; developed originally in England for bull baiting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

bulldog; English bulldog

Hypernyms ("bulldog" is a kind of...):

working dog (any of several breeds of usually large powerful dogs bred to work as draft animals and guard and guide dogs)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bulldog"):

French bulldog (small stocky version of the bulldog having a sleek coat and square head)

Derivation:

bulldog (attack viciously and ferociously)

• BULLDOG (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Attack viciously and ferociously

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "bulldog" is one way to...):

assail; assault; attack; set on (attack someone physically or emotionally)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

bulldog (a sturdy thickset short-haired breed with a large head and strong undershot lower jaw; developed originally in England for bull baiting)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Throw a steer by seizing the horns and twisting the neck, as in a rodeo

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "bulldog" is one way to...):

get over; master; overcome; subdue; surmount (get on top of; deal with successfully)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

He interests me, I suppose, like the bulldog.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The French Bulldog is a sturdy bulldog with large, erect, rounded, bat ears, a flat muzzle and a pug nose.

(French Bulldog, NCI Thesaurus)

He turned his bulldog eyes upon our visitor.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She barred her husband's way like an enraged chicken in front of a bulldog.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Lestrade’s bulldog features gazed out at us from the front window, and he greeted us warmly when a big constable had opened the door and let us in.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This the younger man endeavoured to accomplish by clutching the bulldog's jaws in his hands and trying to spread them.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Then the calf of his leg was badly lacerated and looked as though it had been mangled by a bulldog.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He is as brave as a bulldog and as tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

That he may be safely trusted to do, for although he is absolutely devoid of reason, he is as tenacious as a bulldog when he once understands what he has to do, and, indeed, it is just this tenacity which has brought him to the top at Scotland Yard.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Their determined rush carried the prize-fighters before them, the inner ropes snapped like threads, and in an instant the ring was a swirling,’ seething mass of figures, whips and sticks falling and clattering, whilst, face to face, in the middle of it all, so wedged that they could neither advance nor retreat, the smith and the west-countryman continued their long-drawn battle as oblivious of the chaos raging round them as two bulldogs would have been who had got each other by the throat.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)