- bull
- bull1 [bul] n▬▬▬▬▬▬▬1¦(male cow)¦2¦(male animal)¦3 take the bull by the horns4¦(nonsense)¦5 like a bull in a china shop6 like a bull at a gate7¦(religion)¦8¦(centre)¦9¦(business)¦▬▬▬▬▬▬▬[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 bull2.) ¦(MALE ANIMAL)¦3.) take the bull by the hornsto 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] informalnonsense or something that is completely untrue= ↑rubbish▪ What a load of bull!5.) like a bull in a china shopif you are like a bull in a china shop, you keep knocking things over, dropping things, breaking things etc6.) like a bull at a gateif you move somewhere like a bull at a gate, you move there very fast, ignoring everything in your way7.) ¦(RELIGION)¦an official statement from the Pope8.) ¦(CENTRE)¦ also bullseyethe centre of a ↑target that you are shooting at9.) ¦(BUSINESS)¦ technicalsomeone who buys ↑shares because they expect prices to rise→↑bear→cock and bull story at ↑cock1 (4), like a red rag to a bull at ↑red1 (5), shoot the bull at ↑shoot1 (13)bull 2bull2 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?
Dictionary of contemporary English. 2013.