QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON THESE WORDS FROM BROWN GIRL DREAMING!

Visualize yourself passing this quiz on words from Jacqueline Woodson’s exquisite verse novel “Brown Girl Dreaming,” and then take the quiz to prove you can do it! (Because you can.)
Question 1 of 10
What does “barren” mean?
a cylindrical wooden container with slightly bulging sides.
Worn down by dullness, tedious repetition.
unproductive; unfruitful
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Origin of bully

1
First recorded in 1530–40; from Middle Dutch boele “lover”

OTHER WORDS FROM bully

bul·ly·a·ble, adjectiveun·bul·lied, adjectiveun·bul·ly·ing, adjective

Definition for bully (2 of 3)

bully2
[ bool-ee ]
/ ˈbʊl i /

noun

bully beef.

Origin of bully

2
1865–70; <French bouilli, short for boeuf bouilli boiled meat. See boil1, beef

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

3
First recorded in 1860–65; of obscure origin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to bully

oppressor, rascal, terrorize, torture, hector, bludgeon, coerce, harass, torment, persecute, threaten, oppress, browbeat, ruffian, tough, tease, rowdy, bulldozer, pest, annoyer

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012