bulldoze
Americanverb (used with object)
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bulldozes,
present (3rd person singular)
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bulldozed,
past participle, past
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bulldozing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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bulldozes,
present (3rd person singular)
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bulldozed,
past participle, past
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bulldozing
present participle
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to use a bulldozer.
to clear this rubble away we may have to bulldoze.
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to advance or force one's way in the manner of a bulldozer.
verb
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to move, demolish, flatten, etc, with a bulldozer
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informal to force; push
he bulldozed his way through the crowd
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informal to intimidate or coerce
Usage
What does bulldoze mean? To bulldoze is to clear, level, or push debris away from an area using a bulldozer—a large tractor that has a big, blade-like shovel at the front and moves around using metal tracks over wheels. Sometimes, bulldoze can mean to clear an area in this way even if a bulldozer isn’t used. Bulldoze can also be used figuratively, meaning to move forward or advance in an aggressive or forceful way. This can be physical, as in He just bulldozed his way to the goal by pushing through three defenders, or through an aggressive attitude, as in Instead of cooperating with his colleagues, he just bulldozes his way through tasks until he gets what he wants. This sense of the word likens such behavior to the way that a bulldozer powerfully clears everything in its path. However, before its association with the construction vehicle, bulldoze originally meant to intimidate, such as with threats of violence. Early records of this use refer to violent attacks, especially whipping, against African Americans by white people in the Southern United States. However, the origin of these words, and how bulldozer came to be a name for a type of tractor, is ultimately unclear. The verb doze can be used as a short way of saying bulldoze, as in We need to doze this whole area or She dozes through every obstacle that’s put in her way.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bulldozesimple
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bulldozessimple
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have bulldozedperfect
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has bulldozedperfect
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am bulldozingprogressive
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are bulldozingprogressive
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is bulldozingprogressive
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have been bulldozingperfect progressive
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has been bulldozingperfect progressive
Past
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bulldozedsimple
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had bulldozedperfect
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was bulldozingprogressive
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were bulldozingprogressive
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had been bulldozingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bulldoze
1875–80, origin uncertain; the notion that it represents a verb use of bull dose, i.e., a dose fit for a bull, is probably without merit; bulldoze defs. 1, 2, 4, 5 are back formations from bulldozer in the sense “tractor”
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:
No, because I’m not trying to bulldoze my way into the world and open a bar in Nashville.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
The town’s slow work was getting the legal right to bulldoze capital that ownership had abandoned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
In previous years he's held hunger strikes for more self-rule in Ladakh and against a "very powerful government" seeking to "bulldoze ecologically sensitive places".
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
People in Guam and the Northern Marianas moved to emergency evacuation centers and made last-minute preparations on Sunday, hours before a "super typhoon" was projected to bulldoze through the US Pacific territories.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
“Had to bulldoze her all out, like I say.”
From "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbit
One reviewer called the film "a feature-length ad for Kerala tourism" that "gleefully bulldozes over all possibilities of any cultural nuance".
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2025
She seems to never lose as she hilariously bulldozes her way through conflict.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2024
Antetokounmpo now bulldozes opponents and his strength is a core feature of his game.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 26, 2023
If the composer-lyricist Jerry Herman loved one thing, it was a brassy dame who bulldozes past all obstacles in her quest for the best possible life for herself.
From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2023
“So long as nobody bulldozes it down!” cried Mrs. Gause, whose flickering image was still being projected behind the circulation desk.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
The Zvernec villagers fear getting bulldozed once again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Shortly after, the developer bulldozed the entire place, ripped out trees and erected a 4,700-square-foot box house complete with an eight-foot-tall tiger painted by the front door.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
That part of the city has since been bulldozed and replaced by the offices of Central Square, but some older residents will remember the newspaper kiosk and the man who ran it.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
French-style villas stand to be bulldozed, along with modest Hanoi-style "tube" houses and densely packed low-rises.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
“Chances are these cars will be bulldozed to clear the freeway when this is all over.”
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
From the outset, Ms. Hazoutte and Ms. Siman Tov have been opposed to bulldozing houses in Nir Oz.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
While a ceasefire began on April 17, the destruction, demolitions and bulldozing in southern areas have only intensified, affecting homes, infrastructure, schools, places of worship and farmland.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
Fall River is one of those northern post-industrial cities that’s been futilely trying to reverse decline for decades, first by bulldozing historic neighborhoods to build highways, and now by constructing breweries and farmer’s markets.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025
Rybakina might be seeded ninth in New York this year, but the recent bulldozing of Sabalenka in Cincinnati - winning 6-1 6-4 - was a reminder of her threat.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2025
With much “Hurr-ing” and “Arr-ing,” they waded busily in, bulldozing the enormous heap of rock and rubble off the top of the ramparts.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
