a bull

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   An adult male of cattle, often kept for breeding.

   Grammar: Countable: a bull, two bulls. The female is a cow and the young is a calf.

   Patterns

   • a bull
   • a bull elephant
   • the bull in the field

   The farmer keeps one bull with the cows.

   A bull can be dangerous if you enter its field.

   The bull lowered its head and charged.

2. 2nouncountabletechnical

   An adult male of some large animals, such as elephants, whales, and seals.

   Grammar: Countable; usually used with the animal name: a bull elephant, a bull seal.

   Patterns

   • a bull elephant
   • a bull whale
   • a bull seal

   A bull elephant can weigh over six tons.

   The bull seal defends a large area of beach.

3. 3nouncountablefinance

   A person who buys shares or goods expecting prices to rise so they can sell at a profit.

   Grammar: Countable; common in financial news. The opposite is a bear.

   Patterns

   • a bull market
   • bulls and bears
   • be a bull on something

   Bulls pushed the stock market to a new high today.

   He is a bull on technology shares and expects them to keep rising.

4. 4nouncountablereligionformal

   A papal letter or official document from the Pope.

   Grammar: Countable; usually singular and formal, used in religious history.

   Patterns

   • a papal bull
   • issue a bull

   The Pope issued a bull announcing the new rule.

   Historians studied the papal bull from the fifteenth century.

5. 5noununcountableinformaldisapproving

   A statement or belief that is false or silly.

   Grammar: Uncountable and informal; often in the phrase 'a load of bull'.

   Patterns

   • a load of bull
   • that's bull

   Don't listen to him; it's a load of bull.

   She said the excuse was complete bull.

Word forms

Common combinations

a bull market

Investors made money during the long bull market.

a bull elephant

A bull elephant crossed the road slowly.

a load of bull

His story about winning the lottery was a load of bull.

take the bull by the horns

She decided to take the bull by the horns and ask for a raise.

Synonyms and how they differ

male

Use 'male' as a general word for animals; 'bull' is specific to cattle and a few large animals.

optimist

In finance, a bull is like an optimist about prices; 'optimist' is more general and not a financial term.

Opposites

Word family

bullish adjective

Expecting prices to rise; confident about the future.

bullock noun

A young bull, especially one raised for meat.

Commonly confused: a bull or bull?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “a bull”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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