bullfight

American  

[bool-fahyt] / ˈbʊlˌfaɪt /

noun

1. a traditional Spanish, Portuguese, or Latin American spectacle in which a bull is fought fought by a matador, assisted by banderilleros and picadors, in a prescribed way in an arena and is usually killed.

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bullfight British  

/ ˈbʊlˌfaɪt /

noun

1. a traditional Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American spectacle in which a matador, assisted by banderilleros and mounted picadors, baits and usually kills a bull in an arena

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Other Word Forms

• bullfighter noun
• bullfighting noun

Etymology

Origin of bullfight

First recorded in 1745–55; bull ¹ + fight

Example Sentences

Beneath the clipped prose and bullfight bravado is a meditation on appetite, both emotional and physical.

From Salon

These brilliant episodes describe gangster murders, war injuries, firing squads, hangings and bullfight triumphs and deaths.

From The Wall Street Journal

He and Jake leave Paris to fish in the Pyrenees and watch bullfights in Pamplona, where tensions among the expatriates explode.

From The Wall Street Journal

Such is the rub you may find yourself in with iconoclastic Spanish director Albert Serra’s “Afternoons of Solitude,” his first nonfiction film, an unflinching gaze at bullfighting, its hushed, ornate rituals and gruesome realities.

From Los Angeles Times

Socorro’s social nature, her spunk and her adaptability were likely rooted in her early childhood experiences tagging along with her father to bullfights and bars.

From Los Angeles Times