bulldozer

[boo l-doh-zer]

See more synonyms for bulldozer on Thesaurus.com

noun

a large, powerful tractor having a vertical blade at the front end for moving earth, tree stumps, rocks, etc.
a person who intimidates or coerces.

Origin of bulldozer

1875–80, Americanism; 1925–30 in the sense “tractor”; origin uncertain. See bulldoze

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bulldozer

Contemporary Examples

Soldiers, settlers, and bulldozer drivers have also mercilessly targeted civilians.
Somewhere Over the Separation Barrier
Maysoon Zayid
December 18, 2013
Ameira still had to pay 25,000 shekels ($7,000) to hire a bulldozer and trucks to transport the rubble….
The Banality of Occupation
Yousef Munayyer
August 20, 2013
On the bucket of a bulldozer that had been previously used to uproot the trees in Gezi Park it says, “ I am Free!”
Smiling Under a Cloud of Tear Gas: Elif Shafak on Istanbul’s Streets
Elif Shafak
June 11, 2013
May I recommend the one featuring a picture of the dome from The Dome of the Rock being demolished by a Caterpillar bulldozer?
What Hawking and Jerusalem Day Have in Common
Maysoon Zayid
May 13, 2013
Conflicting accounts have her either falling back and getting sucked under the bulldozer or being hit head one.
Israeli Court Rules Corrie Death Accidental
Dan Ephron
August 28, 2012

Historical Examples

Prosaically, a bulldozer lowered its wide blade some fifty yards from the ship.
Space Tug
Murray Leinster
The bulldozer was teetering at the edge of the cliff as he saw it, right above him.
The Sky Is Falling
Lester del Rey
A bulldozer stood abandoned on it, brand-new and in perfect order, with the smell of gasoline and oil about it.
Operation Terror
William Fitzgerald Jenkins
He reached the bulldozer and turned south, and at long last reached the highway.
Operation Terror
William Fitzgerald Jenkins
Mijok saw; he changed the course of his attack, a bulldozer aiming at a new clump of brush.
West Of The Sun
Edgar Pangborn

British Dictionary definitions for bulldozer

bulldozer

noun

a powerful tractor fitted with caterpillar tracks and a blade at the front, used for moving earth, rocks, etc
informal a person who bulldozes

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

Word Origin and History for bulldozer

n.

"person who intimidates by violence," 1876, agent noun from bulldoze (q.v.). Meaning extended to ground-clearing caterpillar tractor in 1930.

bulldozer

Origin of .css-1fxfie5{font-size:22px;}@media (max-width:768px){.css-1fxfie5{font-size:18px;margin:0 10px 10px 0;word-break:break-all;word-wrap:break-word;-webkit-hyphens:auto;-moz-hyphens:auto;-ms-hyphens:auto;hyphens:auto;line-height:22px;}}bulldozer

Examples from the Web for bulldozer

Contemporary Examples

Soldiers, settlers, and bulldozer drivers have also mercilessly targeted civilians.

Ameira still had to pay 25,000 shekels ($7,000) to hire a bulldozer and trucks to transport the rubble….

On the bucket of a bulldozer that had been previously used to uproot the trees in Gezi Park it says, “ I am Free!”

May I recommend the one featuring a picture of the dome from The Dome of the Rock being demolished by a Caterpillar bulldozer?

Conflicting accounts have her either falling back and getting sucked under the bulldozer or being hit head one.

Historical Examples

Prosaically, a bulldozer lowered its wide blade some fifty yards from the ship.

The bulldozer was teetering at the edge of the cliff as he saw it, right above him.

A bulldozer stood abandoned on it, brand-new and in perfect order, with the smell of gasoline and oil about it.

He reached the bulldozer and turned south, and at long last reached the highway.

Mijok saw; he changed the course of his attack, a bulldozer aiming at a new clump of brush.

bulldozer

Word Origin and History for bulldozer

n.

Origin of bulldozer