bugle

[ byoo-guh l ]

/ ˈbyu gəl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bugle ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a brass wind instrument resembling a cornet and sometimes having keys or valves, used typically for sounding military signals.

verb (used without object), bu·gled, bu·gling.

to sound a bugle.

(of bull elks) to utter a rutting call.

verb (used with object), bu·gled, bu·gling.

to call by or with a bugle: to bugle reveille.

RELATED WORDS

trumpet, clarion, cornet

Nearby words

Origin of bugle

1250–1300; Middle English bugle (horn) instrument made of an ox horn < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin būculus bullock, young ox, equivalent to bū- variant stem of bōs ox + -culus -cle¹

Related formsbu·gler, noun

Definition for bugle (2 of 3)

bugle

[ byoo-guh l ]

/ ˈbyu gəl /

noun

ajuga.

Origin of bugle

1225–75; Middle English < Old French < Medieval Latin bugula a kind of plant

Definition for bugle (3 of 3)

bugle

[ byoo-guh l ]

/ ˈbyu gəl /

noun

Also called bugle bead. a tubular glass bead used for ornamenting dresses.

adjective

Also bu·gled. ornamented with bugles.

Origin of bugle

First recorded in 1570–80; of obscure origin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bugle

Du Maurier was one of the great names of British theatre, she regarded ‘a summons’ from him to be a ‘bugle call from Olympus.’
Tallulah Bankhead: Gay, Drunk and Liberated in an Era of Excess Art|Judith Mackrell|January 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Peter Parker was fired from The Daily Bugle for digitally altering one of his photographs to stop a bad guy.
Superman Quits His Newspaper Job? Good, He’s a Hack|Sujay Kumar|October 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Through the timber ahead of them came the sweet clear notes of a bugle.
Pathfinder|Alan Douglas
Finally the Confederate lines began to waver and give way, and the bugle sounded the retreat.
Brother Against Brother|John Roy Musick

The warder sounds his bugle blast, and the drawbridge is lowered.
Heroines of the Crusades|C. A. Bloss
That strange voice, the bugle, is new to Indian ears; yet some of them have heard it before.
The Scalp Hunters|Mayne Reid
A bugle then sounded the various signals at the other end of the barrack's courtyard.
Clever Hans|Oskar Pfungst

British Dictionary definitions for bugle (1 of 3)

bugle

/ (ˈbjuːɡəl) /

noun

music a brass instrument similar to the cornet but usually without valves: used for military fanfares, signal calls, etc

verb

(intr) to play or sound (on) a bugle

Derived Formsbugler, noun

Word Origin for bugle

C14: short for bugle horn ox horn (musical instrument), from Old French bugle, from Latin būculus young bullock, from bōs ox

British Dictionary definitions for bugle (2 of 3)

bugle

/ (ˈbjuːɡəl) /

noun

any of several Eurasian plants of the genus Ajuga, esp A. reptans, having small blue or white flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)Also called: bugleweed See also ground pine

Word Origin for bugle

C13: from Late Latin bugula, of uncertain origin

British Dictionary definitions for bugle (3 of 3)

bugle

/ (ˈbjuːɡəl) /

noun

a tubular glass or plastic bead sewn onto clothes for decoration

Word Origin for bugle

C16: of unknown origin

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

Word Origin and History for bugle (1 of 2)

bugle

mid-14c., abbreviation of buglehorn "musical horn, hunting horn" (c.1300), from Old French bugle "(musical) horn," also "wild ox, buffalo," from Latin buculus "heifer, young ox," diminutive of bos "ox, cow" (see cow (n.)). Middle English also had the word in the "buffalo" sense and it survived in dialect with meaning "young bull." Modern French bugle is a 19c. borrowing from English.

Word Origin and History for bugle (1 of 2)

bugle

1852, from bugle (n.). Related: Bugled; bugling (1847). Also cf. bugler.