VIDEO FOR BULLY
WATCH NOW: The Word "Bully" Used To Mean ... "Sweetheart"?!
The word bully is first recorded around the mid-1500s, when it actually meant—wait for it—“sweetheart.” What?!
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QUIZ YOURSELF ON “ITS” VS. “IT’S”!
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Question 1 of 12
On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.
Origin of bully
1First recorded in 1530–40; from Middle Dutch boele “lover”
OTHER WORDS FROM bully
bul·ly·a·ble, adjectiveun·bul·lied, adjectiveun·bul·ly·ing, adjectiveWords nearby bully
bull trout, bullwaddy, bullwhacker, bull wheel, bullwhip, bully, bully beef, bullyboy, bullycide, bully-off, bully pulpit
Definition for bully (2 of 3)
Definition for bully (3 of 3)
bully3
[ bool-ee ]
/ ˈbʊl i /
noun, plural bul·lies.
Soccer. a desperate, freewheeling scramble for the ball by a number of players, usually in the goal area.
Field Hockey. a method of putting the ball into play in which two opponents, facing each other, tap their sticks on the ground near the ball and then make contact with each other's sticks over the ball three times, after which each tries to gain possession of the ball.
Origin of bully
3First recorded in 1860–65; of obscure origin
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for bully
British Dictionary definitions for bully (1 of 2)
Word Origin for bully
C16 (in the sense: sweetheart, hence fine fellow, hence swaggering coward): probably from Middle Dutch boele lover, from Middle High German buole, perhaps childish variant of bruoder brother
British Dictionary definitions for bully (2 of 2)
bully2
/ (ˈbʊlɪ) /
noun plural -lies
any of various small freshwater fishes of the genera Gobiomorphus and Philynodon of New ZealandAlso called (NZ): pakoko, titarakura, toitoi
Word Origin for bully
C20: short for cockabully
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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