bulldog
Americannoun
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bulldogs
plural
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one of an English breed of medium-sized, short-haired, muscular dogs with prominent, undershot jaws, usually having a white and tan or brindled coat, raised originally for bullbaiting.
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Informal. a stubbornly persistent person.
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a short-barreled revolver of large caliber.
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Metallurgy. slag from a puddling furnace.
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an assistant to the proctor at Oxford and Cambridge universities.
adjective
verb (used with object)
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to attack in the manner of a bulldog.
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Western U.S. to throw (a calf, steer, etc.) to the ground by seizing the horns and twisting the head.
noun
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a sturdy thickset breed of dog with an undershot jaw, short nose, broad head, and a muscular body
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(at Oxford University) an official who accompanies the proctors on ceremonial occasions
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commerce a fixed-interest bond issued in Britain by a foreign borrower
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of bulldog
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But above all, El-Sayed is a bulldog, happy to bite back in a way we rarely see from any candidate, never mind a Muslim one.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2026
For steward Liam Davidson, it is a desire to see his French bulldog, Bailey, at the end of his fortnight on board.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
The results can be found today in professional locker rooms around the country, today’s stars never forgetting the 5-foot-4 bulldog who gave them their first headline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
At the time, Ibrahimovic had an English bulldog who could handle going downhill, but struggled going the other way.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
It was a bulldog, his slobbery mouth and bared fangs not two feet behind me.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
Because bulldogs are only supposed to live until 8 or 10, he is kind of middle-aged.
From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026
For example, the likes of pugs, Frenchies and English bulldogs all have issues with their breathing because of their squashed facial features and Scottish Fold cats suffer a lot from arthritis.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026
French bulldogs lead the charge for character-actor canines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
You got some of the biggest bulldogs in Congress on the R and D side all working on this.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
About the only dogs I had ever known were Harry de Vries’ bulldogs.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Rozier is a brute with guile, whose balance is such that he seems to be bulldogged off the field more often than he is tumbled off his feet.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Federal Board took its cues from the State but the final decision on the status of any lot of oil actually rested on a bulldogged, stone-steady gentleman named Captain E. N. Stanley.
From Time Magazine Archive
Next day one was still at large in the countryside; the other was bulldogged after he darted into a ball game, tossed two would-be captors, and tried to gore an automobile.
From Time Magazine Archive
Hughes's bulldogged determination could make things interesting at the end.
From Time Magazine Archive
While he groused about so preposterous an idea, the kid laid down the mat he never used, bulldogged him down to it, pulled off his shoes and draped a blanket over him.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
“And the amount of energy and the amount of focus you need to have in bulldogging is the same as in football.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 12, 2023
Fort Collins, for instance, was supposed to have goat roping, steer bulldogging competitions, a shooting exhibition from the U.S.
From Slate ● Jul. 4, 2021
William “Bill” Pickett was a famous rodeo star credited with founding the sport bulldogging, also known as steer wrestling.
From Fox News ● Jul. 3, 2020
“Some guys just have a knack of bulldogging their way through an inning, you know?”
From New York Times ● Oct. 12, 2014
Mr. Huxley stopped in a few times while they were there, to take breaks from his bulldogging and to get more direction and advice from Charles.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
