Bull

Bull (b

See Taurus.

bull¹ (b

a. An adult male bovine mammal.

b. The uncastrated adult male of domestic cattle.

c. The male of certain other large animals, such as the alligator, elephant, or moose.

2. An exceptionally large, strong, and aggressive person.

a. An optimist, especially regarding business conditions.

b. A person who buys commodities or securities in anticipation of a rise in prices or who tries by speculative purchases to effect such a rise.

4. Slang A police officer or detective.

5. Slang

a. Foolish, deceitful, or boastful language.

b. Insolent talk or behavior.

v. bulled, bull·ing, bulls

v.tr.

To push; force.

v.intr.

To push ahead or through forcefully: "He bulls through the press horde that encircles the car" Scott Turow.

adj.

1. Male.

2. Large and strong like a bull.

3. Characterized by rising prices: a bull market.

Idiom:

grab/take the bull by the horns

To deal with a problem directly and resolutely.

[Middle English bule, from Old English bula, probably from Old Norse boli; see bhel-² in Indo-European roots.]

bull² (b

1. An official document issued by the pope and sealed with a bulla.

2. The bulla used to seal such a document.

[Middle English bulle, from Old French, from Medieval Latin bulla; see bulla.]

bull³ (b

A gross blunder in logical speech or expression.

[Origin unknown.]

bull ¹

Noun

1. a male of domestic cattle, esp. one that is sexually mature

2. the male of various other animals including the elephant and whale

3. a very large, strong, or aggressive person

4. Stock Exchange a speculator who buys in anticipation of rising prices in order to make a profit on resale

5. Chiefly Brit same as bull's-eye (senses 1, 2)

6. like a bull in a china shop clumsy

7. take the bull by the horns to face and tackle a difficulty without shirking [Old English bula]

bull ²

Noun

a ludicrously self-contradictory or nonsensical statement [origin unknown]

bull ³

Noun

a formal document issued by the pope [Latin bulla round object]

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	bull - uncastrated adult male of domestic cattle horn - one of the bony outgrowths on the heads of certain ungulates Bos taurus, cattle, cows, kine, oxen - domesticated bovine animals as a group regardless of sex or age; "so many head of cattle"; "wait till the cows come home"; "seven thin and ill-favored kine"- Bible; "a team of oxen" bullock - young bull
	2.	bull - 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" bruiser, strapper, Samson adult male, man - an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman); "there were two women and six men on the bus"
	3.	bull - obscene words for unacceptable behavior; "I put up with a lot of bullshit from that jerk"; "what he said was mostly bull" dogshit, horseshit, Irish bull, bullshit, crap, shit bunkum, guff, hogwash, buncombe, rot, bunk - unacceptable behavior (especially ludicrously false statements) dirty word, vulgarism, obscenity, smut, filth - an offensive or indecent word or phrase
	4.	bull - a serious and ludicrous blunder; "he made a bad bull of the assignment" blooper, blunder, boner, boo-boo, botch, bungle, flub, foul-up, fuckup, pratfall, bloomer - an embarrassing mistake
	5.	bull - uncomplimentary terms for a policeman cop, fuzz, copper, pig colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech police officer, policeman, officer - a member of a police force; "it was an accident, officer"
	6.	bull - an investor with an optimistic market outlook; an investor who expects prices to rise and so buys now for resale later investor - someone who commits capital in order to gain financial returns 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
	7.	Bull - (astrology) a person who is born while the sun is in Taurus Taurus individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do" astrology, star divination - a pseudoscience claiming divination by the positions of the planets and sun and moon
	8.	Bull - the second sign of the zodiac; the sun is in this sign from about April 20 to May 20 Taurus the Bull, Taurus
	9.	bull - the center of a target bull's eye target, mark - a reference point to shoot at; "his arrow hit the mark" midpoint, centre, center - a point equidistant from the ends of a line or the extremities of a figure
	10.	bull - a formal proclamation issued by the pope (usually written in antiquated characters and sealed with a leaden bulla) papal bull decree, fiat, edict, rescript, order - a legally binding command or decision entered on the court record (as if issued by a court or judge); "a friend in New Mexico said that the order caused no trouble out there"
	11.	bull - mature male of various mammals of which the female is called `cow'; e.g. whales or elephants or especially cattle eutherian, eutherian mammal, placental, placental mammal - mammals having a placenta; all mammals except monotremes and marsupials
Verb	1.	bull - push or force; "He bulled through his demands" bull through push, bear on - press, drive, or impel (someone) to action or completion of an action; "He pushed her to finish her doctorate"
	2.	bull - try to raise the price of stocks through speculative buying investing, investment - the act of investing; laying out money or capital in an enterprise with the expectation of profit bull - advance in price; "stocks were bulling" job, speculate - invest at a risk; "I bought this house not because I want to live in it but to sell it later at a good price, so I am speculating"
	3.	bull - speak insincerely or without regard for facts or truths; "The politician was not well prepared for the debate and faked it" bullshit, talk through one's hat, fake dissemble, feign, pretend, sham, affect - make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache"
	4.	bull - advance in price; "stocks were bulling" go up, rise, climb - increase in value or to a higher point; "prices climbed steeply"; "the value of our house rose sharply last year" bull - try to raise the price of stocks through speculative buying