bullock
Americannoun
-
a gelded bull; steer
-
archaic a bull calf
verb
Etymology
Origin of bullock
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bullok, Old English bulluc; see origin at bull 1, -ock
Explanation
Bullock is another word for a steer or a young bull. Most bullocks are raised for meat production, although some farmers have been known to keep their favorite bullock as a pet. Bullocks are essentially young male cows, and the term usually refers to animals that have been castrated. The terminology varies a lot, though, so while some farmers and ranchers use bullock to mean "young bull," others use it to describe a youthful ox. While cows can be useful as dairy animals, bullocks are generally fattened and sold for beef.
Vocabulary lists containing bullock
Much Ado About Nothing
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George's Marvelous Medicine
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Beyond the Horizon
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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.
Photographs from the 1960s and 70s show scientists carrying rockets and satellites on cycles or even a bullock cart.
From BBC • Nov. 3, 2024
They crunch under the wheels of bullock carts, startling the oxen.
From New York Times • Oct. 10, 2019
The vision of a gleaming bullock cart future was portrayed as an emblem of all that was old and embarrassingly domestic.
From The Guardian • Jan. 19, 2018
“They had gathered in their villages, tied up all their things onto bullock carts. There were around 40 carts, a few hundred people,” he said.
From Washington Post • Aug. 14, 2017
Every day for two months the line of bullock carts came in laden with bricks and stones and cement, sheets of tin and corrugated iron, coils of rope and hemp.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
