bulbul

[ bool-bool ]

noun
  1. a songbird often mentioned in Persian poetry, regarded as being a nightingale.

  2. any of several oscine birds of the family Pycnonotidae, of the Old World tropics.

Origin of bulbul

1
Borrowed into English from Persian around 1775–85

Words Nearby bulbul

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bulbul in a sentence

  • He could have said "bulbul," the word little Israeli kids use, but he didn't—he "confused" it.

    Baron-Cohen's Bilbul | Elisheva Goldberg | June 13, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • The sitting bulbul does not appear to mind the daily shower-bath it receives when the mali waters the plant.

  • The hen has the appearance of a kind of bulbul, being chestnut-hued with a white breast and a metallic blue-black crest.

  • The bulbul had no sooner finished her song than the Bullfrog began to make profuse apologies for having left his music at home.

    A Bayard From Bengal | Hurry Bungsho Jabberjee
  • The bulbul eyed this performance thoughtfully; a tiger lying down for a sleep was something not to waste time over.

    The Three Sapphires | W. A. Fraser
  • Like a streamer from the topmast of a yacht the bulbul, weaving back and forth, showed Finnerty the tiger was on the move.

    The Three Sapphires | W. A. Fraser

British Dictionary definitions for bulbul

bulbul

/ (ˈbʊlbʊl) /


noun
  1. any songbird of the family Pycnonotidae of tropical Africa and Asia, having brown plumage and, in many species, a distinct crest

  2. a songbird, taken to be the nightingale, often mentioned in Persian poetry

Origin of bulbul

1
C18: via Persian from Arabic

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012