From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
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 [gcide]:
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.
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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 [gcide]:
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.
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Note: The wild bull of the Old Testament is thought to be the
oryx, a large species of antelope.
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2. One who, or that which, resembles a bull in character or
action. --Ps. xxii. 12.
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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.
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At last from Aries rolls the bounteous sun,
And the bright Bull receives him. --Thomson.
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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 [gcide]:
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 The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Bull \Bull\, v. i.
To be in heat; to manifest sexual desire as cows do.
[Colloq.]
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Bull \Bull\, v. t. (Stock Exchange)
To endeavor to raise the market price of; as, to bull
railroad bonds; to bull stocks; to bull Lake Shore; to
endeavor to raise prices in; as, to bull the market. See 1st
Bull, n., 4.
[1913 Webster]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008) [foldoc]:
Bull Information Systems
Bull
<company> A multinational I.T. group based in Europe with
21,000 people and operations in more than 85 countries. In
1997, Bull earned revenues of over $4 billion, including over
65% outside of France, its country of origin. The company is
ranked as the third largest systems integrator in Europe.
{(http://bull.com/)}.
(1998-07-02)