| bull | Of or pertaining to a bull; resembling a bull; male; large; fierce. Bull bat, 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. 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. Synonym: See Blunder. Origin: OE. Bulle, fr. L. Bulla bubble, stud, knob, LL, a seal or stamp: cf. F. Bulle. Cf. Bull a writing, Bowl a ball, Boil. 1. <zoology> The male of any species of cattle (Bovidae); hence, the male of any large quadruped, as the elephant; also, the male of the whale. 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. 3. <astronomy> Taurus, the second of the twelve signs of the zodiac. 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. One who operates in expectation of a rise in the price of stocks, or in order to effect such a rise. See 4th Bear. 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." . To take the bull by the horns, to grapple with a difficulty instead of avoiding it. Origin: 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. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| bull brier | <botany> A species of Smilax (S. Pseudo-China) growing from new Jersey to the Gulf of Mexico, which has very large tuberous and farinaceous rootstocks, formerly used by the Indians for a sort of bread, and by the negroes as an ingredient in making beer. Synonym: bamboo brier and China brier. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bull neck | A heavy thick neck caused by hypertrophied muscles or enlarged cervical lymph nodes. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bull terrier | <zoology> A breed of dogs obtained by crossing the bulldog and the terrier. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bull trout | <zoology> In England, a large salmon trout of several species, as Salmo trutta and S. Cambricus, which ascend rivers; called also sea trout. Salvelinus malma of California and Oregon; called also Dolly Varden trout and red-spotted trout. The huso or salmon of the Danube. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bull's-eye | 1. A small circular or oval wooden block without sheaves, having a groove around it and a hole through it, used for connecting rigging. 2. A small round cloud, with a ruddy center, supposed by sailors to portend a storm. 3. A small thick disk of glass inserted in a deck, roof, floor, ship's side, etc, to let in light. 4. A circular or oval opening for air or light. 5. A lantern, with a thick glass lens on one side for concentrating the light on any object; also, the lens itself. 6. <astronomy> Aldebaran, a bright star in the eye of Taurus or the Bull. 7. The center of a target. 8. A thick knob or protuberance left on glass by the end of the pipe through which it was blown. 9. A small and thick old-fashioned watch. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bull's-eye maculopathy | An ocular condition in which oedema or degeneration of the sensory retina at the posterior pole of the eye causes alternating areas of light and dark, as in a target; seen in toxic, inflammatory, and hereditary conditions. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bulla | Origin: L. Bulla bubble. See Bull an edict. 1. <medicine> A bleb; a vesicle, or an elevation of the cuticle, containing a transparent watery fluid. 2. <anatomy> The ovoid prominence below the opening of the ear in the skulls of many animals; as, the tympanic or auditory bulla. 3. A leaden seal for a document; especially. The round leaden seal attached to the papal bulls, which has on one side a representation of St. Peter and St. Paul, and on the other the name of the pope who uses it. 4. <zoology> A genus of marine shells. See Bubble shell. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bulla ethmoidalis | A bulging of the inner wall of the ethmoidal labyrinth in the middle meatus of the nose, just below the middle nasal concha; it is regarded as a rudimentary concha. Synonym: bulla ethmoidalis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bulla tympanica | The bony capsule enclosing the middle ear of the cat and dog. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bullace | <botany> A small European plum (Prunus communis, var. Insitita). See Plum. The bully tree. Origin: OE. Bolas, bolace, OF. Beloce; of Celtic origin; cf. Arm. Bolos, polos, Gael. Bulaistear. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bullae | The pleural of bulla. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bullate | <biology> Appearing as if blistered; inflated; puckered. <botany> Bullate leaf, a leaf, the membranous part of which rises between the veins puckered elevations convex on one side and concave on the other. Origin: L. Bullatus, fr. Bulla bubble. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bullcomber | <zoology> A scaraboid beetle; especially. The Typhaeus vulgaris of Europe. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| bulldog | 1. <zoology> A variety of dog, of remarkable ferocity, courage, and tenacity of grip; so named, probably, from being formerly employed in baiting bulls. 2. <chemistry> A refractory material used as a furnace lining, obtained by calcining the cinder or slag from the puddling furnace of a rolling mill. Characteristic of, or like, a bulldog; stubborn; as, bulldog courage; bulldog tenacity. <zoology> Bulldog bat, a bat of the genus Nyctinomus; so called from the shape of its face. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| aq bull | <abbreviation> L. Aqua bulliens, boiling water. (05 Mar 2000) |
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