bullfinch

¹ American  

[bool-finch] / ˈbʊlˌfɪntʃ /

noun

1. a European finch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula, often kept as a pet, the male of which has a black, white, and bluish-gray back and a rosy breast.

2. any of several related or similar birds.

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bullfinch ² American  

[bool-finch] / ˈbʊlˌfɪntʃ /

noun

1. a hedge high enough to impede mounted hunters.

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bullfinch ¹ British  

/ ˈbʊlˌfɪntʃ /

noun

1. a common European finch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula : the male has a bright red throat and breast, black crown, wings, and tail, and a grey-and-white back

2. any of various similar finches

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bullfinch ² British  

/ ˈbʊlˌfɪntʃ /

noun

1. a high thick hedge too difficult for a horse and rider to jump

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Etymology

Origin of bullfinch¹

1560–70; bull ¹ (perhaps in sense “bull-necked”) + finch

Origin of bullfinch²

First recorded in 1825–35; of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

The bullfinch, first on the program, was obviously stagestruck.

From Time Magazine Archive

Shortly after Repeal Julius Kessler returned to Manhattan with his bull terrier Roxy and his bullfinch Dickie, there passed his 80th birthday.

From Time Magazine Archive

The merchant went into the drawing-room very readily, and submitted to several little pleasant attentions from wife and daughter, as he asked questions about the bullfinch, laughing slily the while at Madelaine.

From The Haute Noblesse A Novel by Fenn, George Manville

A man who never jumps at all can by no possibility be “pounded,” whereas the easiest and safest of gaps into an inclosure may mean a bullfinch with two ditches at the other end.

From Riding Recollections, 5th ed. by Whyte-Melville, G. J. (George John)

Though you can't see daylight through me, still I'm not a bullfinch.

From Barnaby A Novel by Ramsay, R.