BULL

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Bull mean? 

• BULL (noun)
  The noun BULL has 11 senses:

1. uncastrated adult male of domestic cattle

2. a large and strong and heavyset man

3. obscene words for unacceptable behavior

4. a serious and ludicrous blunder

5. uncomplimentary terms for a policeman

6. an investor with an optimistic market outlook; an investor who expects prices to rise and so buys now for resale later

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

8. the second sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about April 20 to May 20

9. the center of a target

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

11. mature male of various mammals of which the female is called 'cow'; e.g. whales or elephants or especially cattle

  Familiarity information: BULL used as a noun is familiar.

• BULL (verb)
  The verb BULL has 4 senses:

1. push or force

2. try to raise the price of stocks through speculative buying

3. speak insincerely or without regard for facts or truths

4. advance in price

  Familiarity information: BULL used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BULL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Uncastrated adult male of domestic cattle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

Bos taurus; cattle; cows; kine; oxen (domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age)

Meronyms (parts of "bull"):

horn (one of the bony outgrowths on the heads of certain ungulates)

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

bullock (young bull)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A large and strong and heavyset man

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

bruiser; bull; Samson; strapper

Context example:

a thick-skinned bruiser ready to give as good as he got

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

adult male; man (an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Obscene words for unacceptable behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

bull; bullshit; crap; dogshit; horseshit; Irish bull; shit

Context example:

what he said was mostly bull

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

buncombe; bunk; bunkum; guff; hogwash; rot (unacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false statements))

Domain usage:

dirty word; filth; obscenity; smut; vulgarism (an offensive or indecent word or phrase)

Derivation:

bull (speak insincerely or without regard for facts or truths)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A serious and ludicrous blunder

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he made a bad bull of the assignment

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

bloomer; blooper; blunder; boner; boo-boo; botch; bungle; flub; foul-up; fuckup; pratfall (an embarrassing mistake)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Uncomplimentary terms for a policeman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

bull; cop; copper; fuzz; pig

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

officer; police officer; policeman (a member of a police force)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sense 6

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

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

investor (someone who commits capital in order to gain financial returns)

Antonym:

bear (an investor with a pessimistic market outlook; an investor who expects prices to fall and so sells now in order to buy later at a lower price)

Derivation:

bull (advance in price)

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

Sense 7

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Bull; Taurus

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

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Domain category:

astrology; star divination (a pseudoscience claiming divination by the positions of the planets and sun and moon)

Sense 8

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

Bull; Taurus; Taurus the Bull

Instance hypernyms:

house; mansion; planetary house; sign; sign of the zodiac; star sign ((astrology) one of 12 equal areas into which the zodiac is divided)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The center of a target

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

bull; bull's eye

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

center; centre; midpoint (a point equidistant from the ends of a line or the extremities of a figure)

Holonyms ("bull" is a part of...):

mark; target (a reference point to shoot at)

Sense 10

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

bull; papal bull

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

decree; edict; fiat; order; rescript (a legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge))

Sense 11

Meaning:

Mature male of various mammals of which the female is called 'cow'; e.g. whales or elephants or especially cattle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

eutherian; eutherian mammal; placental; placental mammal (mammals having a placenta; all mammals except monotremes and marsupials)

• BULL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they bull    / bull    ... he / she / it bulls    / bull   
Past simple: bulled   
Past participle: bulled   
-ing form: bulling    / bull   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Push or force

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

bull; bull through

Context example:

He bulled through his demands

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

bear on; push (press, drive, or impel (someone) to action or completion of an action)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Try to raise the price of stocks through speculative buying

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

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

job; speculate (invest at a risk)

Verb group:

bull (advance in price)

Domain category:

investing; investment (the act of investing; laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

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

Sense 3

Meaning:

Speak insincerely or without regard for facts or truths

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

bull; bullshit; fake; talk through one's hat

Context example:

The politician was not well prepared for the debate and faked it

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

affect; dissemble; feign; pretend; sham (make believe with the intent to deceive)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s on something

Derivation:

bull (obscene words for unacceptable behavior)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Advance in price

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

stocks were bulling

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

climb; go up; rise (increase in value or to a higher point)

Verb group:

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

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

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

 Context examples 

He was surely not gored by a bull?

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

He bellowed like a bull and rushed for the door with all that were left alive at his heels.

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

"You kin fight in the middle, under the electric light, an' whichever way the bulls come in we kin sneak the other way."

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He had always laughed at what he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon himself.

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

The bull snorted and leaped away, his hoofs rattling and clattering as he fled across the ledges.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I stepped out and advanced valiantly upon a long-maned bull in the midst of his wives.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The Bull Terrier is a thick-set muscular, well-proportioned animal with a short, dense coat that comes in pure white, black, brindle, red, fawn and tri-color.

(Bull Terrier, NCI Thesaurus)

His eyes were black an' his hair was red an' his voice like the parish bull.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In a week or less, from what I see, John Bull will be on his hind legs and fair ramping.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The English Staffordshire Bull Terrier is a powerful and muscular dog, with a broad head and very strong jaws.

(English Staffordshire Terrier, NCI Thesaurus)