bull

bull¹ [bul] n

↑hoof, ↑horn

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1¦(male cow)¦

2¦(male animal)¦

3 take the bull by the horns

4¦(nonsense)¦

5 like a bull in a china shop

6 like a bull at a gate

7¦(religion)¦

8¦(centre)¦

9¦(business)¦

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[Sense: 1-3, 5-6, 8-9; Origin: Old English bula]

[Sense: 4; Date: 1900-2000; Origin: bullshit]

[Sense: 7; Date: 1200-1300; : Medieval Latin; Origin: bulla]

1.) ¦(MALE COW)¦

an adult male animal of the cattle family

▪ a herd of cows with one bull

2.) ¦(MALE ANIMAL)¦

the male of some other large animals such as the ↑elephant or ↑whale

3.) take the bull by the horns

to bravely or confidently deal with a difficult, dangerous, or unpleasant problem

▪ Nora decided to take the bull by the horns and organize things for herself.

4.) ¦(NONSENSE)¦[U] informal

nonsense or something that is completely untrue

= ↑rubbish

▪ What a load of bull!

5.) like a bull in a china shop

if you are like a bull in a china shop, you keep knocking things over, dropping things, breaking things etc

6.) like a bull at a gate

if you move somewhere like a bull at a gate, you move there very fast, ignoring everything in your way

7.) ¦(RELIGION)¦

an official statement from the Pope

8.) ¦(CENTRE)¦ also bullseye

the centre of a ↑target that you are shooting at

9.) ¦(BUSINESS)¦ technical

someone who buys ↑shares because they expect prices to rise

→↑bear

→↑bull market

→cock and bull story at ↑cock¹ (4), like a red rag to a bull at ↑red¹ (5), shoot the bull at ↑shoot¹ (13)

bull ²

bull² interjection

[Date: 1900-2000; Origin: BULL¹2]

used to say that you do not believe or agree with what someone has said

▪ Bull! Where did you get that idea?