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.
This is the moment a bullock was hoisted to safety by its legs after getting trapped in a sinkhole in County Durham.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2023
A man on a bullock cart trundles by.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2023
Theoretically, you could wake up in four months’ time looking like a creature of myth, a man or woman who has been cursed with the upper body of a bullock.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 4, 2020
They crunch under the wheels of bullock carts, startling the oxen.
From New York Times ● Oct. 10, 2019
Three or four empty bullock carts passed us on the way to collect the broken stones, the bullocks drawing them struggling to get through the morass, their hides slippery with rain.
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.
