bull.
An adult male, specifically:
Meaning & usage
An adult male, specifically: An adult male of domesticated cattle or oxen. Specifically, one that is uncastrated.
An adult male, specifically: An adult male of domesticated cattle or oxen. Any bovine of an aggressive or long-horned breed regardless of age and sex.
An adult male, specifically: A male of domesticated cattle or oxen of any age.
An adult male, specifically: Any adult male bovine.
An adult male, specifically: An adult male of certain large mammals, such as whales, elephants, camels and seals.
An adult male, specifically: Beef.
A person, compared to the animal. A large, strong man.
A person, compared to the animal. An investor who buys (commodities or securities) in anticipation of a rise in prices.
A person, compared to the animal. A policeman; a detective; a railroad security guard.
A person, compared to the animal. An elderly lesbian.
A person, compared to the animal. A man who has sex with someone else's partner.
A person, compared to the animal. A man or boy.
A crown coin; its value, 5 shillings.
Clipping of bullseye.
Clipping of bullseye. The central portion of a target, inside the inner and magpie.
Clipping of bullshit.
A drink made by pouring water into a cask that previously held liquor.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- Proto-Germanic *bulô Old English bula ▲ Proto-Germanic *bulô Old Norse bolibor. Middle English bole English bull From Middle English bole, bul, bule, from a conflation of Old English bula (“bull, steer”) and Old Norse boli, both from Proto-Germanic *bulô (“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥no-, from *bʰel- (“to blow, swell up”). Cognate with West Frisian bolle, Dutch bul, German Low German Bull, German Bulle, Swedish bulla; also Old Irish ball (“limb”), Latin follis (“bellows, leather bag”), Albanian bolle (“testicles”), Ancient Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”). Of sense 11, (a man or boy), derived from the Philadelphia English pronunciation of boy, which is practically a homophone of bull.
Large and strong, like a bull.
Of large mammals, adult male.
a bull elephant
Characterized by rising prices or belief that prices will rise.
a bull market
Stupid.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- Proto-Germanic *bulô Old English bula ▲ Proto-Germanic *bulô Old Norse bolibor. Middle English bole English bull From Middle English bole, bul, bule, from a conflation of Old English bula (“bull, steer”) and Old Norse boli, both from Proto-Germanic *bulô (“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥no-, from *bʰel- (“to blow, swell up”). Cognate with West Frisian bolle, Dutch bul, German Low German Bull, German Bulle, Swedish bulla; also Old Irish ball (“limb”), Latin follis (“bellows, leather bag”), Albanian bolle (“testicles”), Ancient Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”). Of sense 11, (a man or boy), derived from the Philadelphia English pronunciation of boy, which is practically a homophone of bull.
To force oneself (in a particular direction); to move aggressively.
He bulled his way in.
To be in heat; to be ready for mating with a bull.
To mate with (a cow or heifer).
To endeavour to raise the market price of.
to bull railroad bonds
To endeavour to raise prices in.
to bull the market
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- Proto-Germanic *bulô Old English bula ▲ Proto-Germanic *bulô Old Norse bolibor. Middle English bole English bull From Middle English bole, bul, bule, from a conflation of Old English bula (“bull, steer”) and Old Norse boli, both from Proto-Germanic *bulô (“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥no-, from *bʰel- (“to blow, swell up”). Cognate with West Frisian bolle, Dutch bul, German Low German Bull, German Bulle, Swedish bulla; also Old Irish ball (“limb”), Latin follis (“bellows, leather bag”), Albanian bolle (“testicles”), Ancient Greek φαλλός (phallós, “penis”). Of sense 11, (a man or boy), derived from the Philadelphia English pronunciation of boy, which is practically a homophone of bull.
A papal bull, an official document or edict from the Pope.
A seal affixed to a document, especially a document from the Pope.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bew-der.? Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der.? Latin bullabor. Old French bullebor. Middle English bulle English bull From Middle English bulle, from Old French bulle, from Latin bulla, from Gaulish. Doublet of bull (“bubble”) and bulla.
To publish in a papal bull.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bew-der.? Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der.? Latin bullabor. Old French bullebor. Middle English bulle English bull From Middle English bulle, from Old French bulle, from Latin bulla, from Gaulish. Doublet of bull (“bubble”) and bulla.
A lie.
Nonsense.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō- Middle Low German bôlenbor. Old French bouler Old French boulbor. Middle English bull English bull From Middle English bull, bul, boule (“falsehood, deceit”), probably from Old French boul, boule, bole (“fraud, deceit, cunning”), from Old French bouler, boler (“to deceive, delude, lure, take in”), from Middle Low German bôlen (“to court, to woo”). Cognate with German buhlen (“to woo”). Doublet of bully. Often reanalyzed by surface analysis to be an expurgated clipping of bullshit.
To mock; to cheat.
To lie, to tell untruths.
To polish (boots) to a high shine.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- Proto-Germanic *bō- Middle Low German bôlenbor. Old French bouler Old French boulbor. Middle English bull English bull From Middle English bull, bul, boule (“falsehood, deceit”), probably from Old French boul, boule, bole (“fraud, deceit, cunning”), from Old French bouler, boler (“to deceive, delude, lure, take in”), from Middle Low German bôlen (“to court, to woo”). Cognate with German buhlen (“to woo”). Doublet of bully. Often reanalyzed by surface analysis to be an expurgated clipping of bullshit.
A bubble.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bew-der.? Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der.? Latin bullabor. Old French bullebor. Middle English bowle English bull From Middle English bowle, boule, from Old French bulle, boule (“ball”), from Latin bulla (“round swelling”), of Gaulish origin. Doublet of bull (“papal bull”) and bulla.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.