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Synonyms

bulldog

American  
[bool-dawg, -dog] / ˈbʊlˌdɔg, -ˌdɒg /

noun

  1. 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.

  2. Informal. a stubbornly persistent person.

  3. a short-barreled revolver of large caliber.

  4. Metallurgy. slag from a puddling furnace.

  5. an assistant to the proctor at Oxford and Cambridge universities.

adjective

  1. like or characteristic of a bulldog or of a bulldog's jaws.

    bulldog obstinacy.

verb (used with object)

bulldogged, bulldogging

  1. to attack in the manner of a bulldog.

  2. Western U.S. to throw (a calf, steer, etc.) to the ground by seizing the horns and twisting the head.

bulldog British  
/ ˈbʊlˌdɒɡ /

noun

  1. a sturdy thickset breed of dog with an undershot jaw, short nose, broad head, and a muscular body

  2. (at Oxford University) an official who accompanies the proctors on ceremonial occasions

  3. commerce a fixed-interest bond issued in Britain by a foreign borrower

"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

Other Word Forms

  • bulldoggedness noun
  • bulldogger noun

Etymology

Origin of bulldog

First recorded in 1490–1500; bull 1 + dog

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.

Steph Roberts, from Ashford, Kent, told the BBC she has been stuck at the Calais terminal with her husband Robert and bulldog Dempsey since 10:30.

From BBC • Dec. 30, 2025

Play, a four-year-old French bulldog, waddled down the street in Noho.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025

Clinging to the chassis of an airplane with the wind plastering his hair to his forehead and oscillating his gums like bulldog in a convertible, he is, in fact, exceedingly flapped.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2025

“No one who sees me in action would doubt that I remain the bulldog that I am,” Connolly said at the time, about 135 days before announcing his retirement from public life.

From Salon • Apr. 29, 2025

Donatelli leaned against four black- taped ropes, and turned his bulldog face to Alfred.

From "The Contender" by Robert Lipsyte

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.