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:
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
"It limits our movement. They cut off roads, bulldoze lands and cut down trees."
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 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
He added: "Where there aren't levers, we build them. Where there are barriers, we bulldoze them. Where there is poor performance, we challenge it."
From BBC ● Jan. 13, 2026
“In fact, they’ll probably want to bulldoze that bush out of there. I can do that with the big tractor.”
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
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
Antetokounmpo now bulldozes opponents and his strength is a core feature of his game.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 26, 2023
Biel is especially animated when Candy bulldozes through rooms with a blazing smile and sing-song voice, trying to exercise power where she has none and sweetly bullying those she can with false kindness, including Betty.
From Salon ● May 10, 2022
He bulldozes right over it, and turns the shattered fragments into a chintzy chandelier.
From Slate ● Feb. 28, 2018
“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
Often these projects are approved with little to no input from community members, either because they flew under the radar or because companies bulldozed their way into building them anyway.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026
With two magical allies — Faizah Malik, who is challenging Councilmember Traci Park, and Board of Education member Rocio Rivas — they saved homes from being bulldozed by corporate villains.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
Some islanders warn that the isolated Indigenous populations' millennia-old culture risks being bulldozed away.
From Barron's ● May 18, 2026
Wales took advantage on 20 minutes, with a Gwen Crabb turnover gifting them a promising attacking platform, and while line-out ball was slightly overthrown, Tuipulotu took a clean catch and bulldozed her way through.
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026
The station was located in Sophiatown, or rather, what was left of it, for the once bustling township was now a ruin of bulldozed buildings and vacant lots.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
“Once you start bulldozing roads for commercial logging and industrial development, there’s no getting them back.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 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
He made good on these promises, with what the Times called “bureaucratic bulldozing, rather than legislative transparency” characterizing his two terms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 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
Miguel was waiting on the steps of the Lonogan house, work gloves in his lap, a little sheepdog frantically bulldozing his knee.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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.
