picador

[ pik-uh-dawr; Spanish pee-kah-thawr ]
See synonyms for picador on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural pi·ca·dors, Spanish pi·ca·do·res [pee-kah-thaw-res]. /ˌpi kɑˈðɔ rɛs/.
  1. one of the mounted assistants to a matador, who opens the bullfight by enraging the bull and weakening its shoulder muscles with a lance.

Origin of picador

1
1790–1800; <Spanish: literally, pricker, equivalent to pic(ar) to prick (see pique1) + -ador<Latin -ātor-ator

Words Nearby picador

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

How to use picador in a sentence

  • When the bull withdraws, the picador advances, but only a few steps, so that the battle never takes place in the centre.

  • Sometimes they come to close quarters, a picador is thrown, his horse is wounded, or perhaps killed.

    Things seen in Spain | C. Gasquoine Hartley

British Dictionary definitions for picador

picador

/ (ˈpɪkəˌdɔː) /


noun
  1. bullfighting a horseman who pricks the bull with a lance in the early stages of a fight to goad and weaken it

Origin of picador

1
C18: from Spanish, literally: pricker, from picar to prick; see pique 1

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