bugle

[ byoo-guh l ]

/ ˈbyu gəl /

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.

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

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

Examples from the Web for bugler

A $3 pouch of Bugler ends up retailing inside for about $600—a 20,000% markup.
With Cigarettes Banned In Most Prisons, Gangs Shift From Drugs To Smokes|Seth Ferranti|June 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
A step or two behind came Lieutenant Salkeld with a firing party and a bugler.
Barclay of the Guides|Herbert Strang
If he had not been prudent before, he was so now, for the bugler immediately sounded the recall.
In The Saddle|Oliver Optic
The commander speaks to his bugler, who claps his instrument to his lips.
The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Vol. II: In the Midst of Life: Tales of Soldiers and Civilians|Ambrose Bierce

A village containing one pioneer, one drummer (or bugler) and a quarter-master-sergeant, will be considered fully garrisoned.
Mr. Punch on the Warpath|Various
But the devil a drummer, drum, bugler, or bugle was forthcoming.
Memoirs of the Extraordinary Military Career of John Shipp|John Shipp

British Dictionary definitions for bugler

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

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

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 bugler

bugler

1793; see bugle (n.). Bugle-boy attested from 1817.

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.

bugle

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