Irish bull

American

noun

a paradoxical statement that appears at first to make sense. Example: He's the kind of guy who looks you right in the eye as he stabs you in the back.

Irish bull British

noun

a ludicrously illogical statement See also bull 2

"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

Etymology

Origin of Irish bull

First recorded in 1795–1805

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.

See Examples For:

Irish bull

To employ an Irish bull, the chief event of last week was one that didn't happen.

From Time Magazine Archive

Last week a Catholic philosopher was hooked by an Irish bull.

From Time Magazine Archive

The mystery of the sign lay in the fact that no feed was in sight, and if it referred back to the flat, then it was in the nature of an Irish bull.

From The Trail of the Goldseekers A Record of Travel in Prose and Verse by Hamlin Garland

Griffin on Irish bull, 441. —— on Welsh money, 346. —— on Yote or Yeot, 220.

From Notes and Queries, Index of Volume 2, May-December, 1850 A Medium of Inter-Communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, Etc. by Various

They had taken us at unawares, and as Creagh would have put it in an Irish bull the only retreat possible for us was an advance through the enemy.

From A Daughter of Raasay A Tale of the '45 by Stuart Travis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023