Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of 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. (Zo["o]l.) 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. Note: The wild bull of the Old Testament is thought to be the oryx, a large species of antelope. 2. One who, or that which, resembles a bull in character or action. --Ps. xxii. 12. 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. At last from Aries rolls the bounteous sun, And the bright Bull receives him. --Thomson. 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. {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.
\Bull\, a. Of or pertaining to a bull; resembling a bull; male; large; fierce. {Bull bat} (Zo["o]l.), 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} (Zo["o]l.), the chub mackerel. {Bull pump} (Mining), a direct single-acting pumping engine, in which the steam cylinder is placed above the pump. {Bull snake} (Zo["o]l.), 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.
\Bull\, v. i. To be in heat; to manifest sexual desire as cows do. [Colloq.]
\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.
\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}. 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}. A fresh bull of Leo's had declared how inflexible the court of Rome was in the point of abuses. --Atterbury. 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. 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. {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. Syn: See {Blunder}.