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  • Paul Bunyan
    Paul Bunyan
    noun
    a legendary giant lumberjack, an American folk hero.
  • Bunyan, Paul
    Bunyan, Paul
    A legendary giant lumberjack of the north woods of the United States and Canada. He was accompanied by a blue ox named Babe. The stories about him resemble traditional tall tales. In one such story, the ten thousand lakes of Minnesota originated when Paul and Babe's footprints filled with water.

Paul Bunyan

American  

noun

  1. a legendary giant lumberjack, an American folk hero.


Bunyan, Paul Cultural  
  1. A legendary giant lumberjack of the north woods of the United States and Canada. He was accompanied by a blue ox named Babe. The stories about him resemble traditional tall tales. In one such story, the ten thousand lakes of Minnesota originated when Paul and Babe's footprints filled with water.


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:

They called him thunder in a bottle; they compared him to civil rights activist Paul Robeson — and Paul Bunyan.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 9, 2024

There you’ll find those old-growth Doug firs, Western hemlocks and Western red cedars — hopefully boughs laden with snow — that Paul Bunyan and his ilk left standing.

From Seattle Times Feb. 3, 2023

His anti-arborism positions him in a great American tradition, as a mighty Paul Bunyan to Warnock’s Johnny Appleseed, a wily Once-ler to Warnock’s Lorax.

From Washington Post Aug. 23, 2022

“The beauty of these stats is that they now humanize these folk heroes, and they’re no longer mythical figures like Paul Bunyan or the steel-driving John Henry. These stats legitimize their accomplishments.”

From New York Times Jun. 15, 2021

He wasn’t big, five seven and 132 pounds, but he had become the Paul Bunyan of Odessa, no story about him too tall, no feat too outlandish.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger

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