bulldoze
[ bool-dohz ]
/ ˈbʊlˌdoʊz /
verb (used with object), bull·dozed, bull·doz·ing.
to clear, level, or reshape the contours of (land) by or as if by using a bulldozer: to bulldoze a building site.
to clear away by or as if by using a bulldozer: to bulldoze trees from a site.
to coerce or intimidate, as with threats.
verb (used without object), bull·dozed, bull·doz·ing.
to use a bulldozer:to clear this rubble away we may have to bulldoze.
to advance or force one's way in the manner of a bulldozer.
Nearby words
Origin of bulldoze
1875–80, Americanism; 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; defs 1, 2, 4, 5 are back formations from bulldozer in the sense “tractor”
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for bulldoze
British Dictionary definitions for bulldoze
bulldoze
/ (ˈbʊlˌdəʊz) /
verb (tr)
to move, demolish, flatten, etc, with a bulldozer
informal to force; pushhe bulldozed his way through the crowd
informal to intimidate or coerce
Word Origin for bulldoze
C19: probably from bull 1 + dose
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for bulldoze
bulldoze
by 1880, from an earlier noun, bulldose "a severe beating or lashing" (1876), literally "a dose fit for a bull," a slang word referring to the intimidation beating of black voters (by either blacks or whites) in the chaotic 1876 U.S. presidential election. See bull (n.1) + dose (n.). Related: Bulldozed; bulldozing.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper