use-icon

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

bull 1 (bl)
Share:
n.
1.
a. An adult male bovine mammal.
b. The uncastrated adult male of domestic cattle.
c. The adult male of certain other large animals, such as alligators, elephants, moose, or whales.
2. An exceptionally large, strong, and aggressive person.
3.
a. An optimist, especially regarding business conditions.
b. A person who buys commodities or securities in anticipation of a rise in prices or who tries by speculative purchases to effect such a rise.
4. Slang A police officer or detective.
5. Slang
a. Foolish, deceitful, or boastful language.
b. Insolent talk or behavior.
v. bulled, bull·ing, bulls
v.tr.
To push; force.
v.intr.
To push ahead or through forcefully: "He bulls through the press horde that encircles the car" (Scott Turow).
adj.
1. Male.
2. Large and strong like a bull.
3. Characterized by rising prices: a bull market.
Idiom:
grab/take the bull by the horns
To deal with a problem directly and resolutely.

[Middle English bole, bule, from Old English bula, probably from Old Norse boli; see bhel-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
bull 2 (bl)
Share:
n.
1. An official document issued by the pope and sealed with a bulla.
2. The bulla used to seal such a document.

[Middle English bulle, from Old French, from Medieval Latin bulla; see BULLA.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
bull 3 (bl)
Share:
n.
A gross blunder in logical speech or expression.

[Origin unknown.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
Bull (bl)
Share:
n.
See Taurus.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
Bull (bl, bl), Ole Bornemann 1810-1880.
Share:
Norwegian violinist who toured extensively through the United States and attempted to found a Norwegian colony in Pennsylvania (1852).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.