bull horn

Meanings

1. 1nouncountableAmerican

   A handheld device, shaped like a cone, that makes a person's voice louder so a crowd can hear it.

   Grammar: Often written as one word, bullhorn; used with through or into: speak through a bull horn.

   Patterns

   • speak through a bull horn
   • shout into a bull horn

   The coach spoke through a bull horn so the whole field could hear.

   Protesters used a bull horn to call out slogans.

   A police officer raised the bull horn and asked the crowd to step back.

2. 2nouncountable

   One of the two curved horns on the head of a bull.

   Grammar: Literal sense; usually part of a description of the animal or a decoration.

   Patterns

   • the bull horn of something

   The cowboy hung a polished bull horn on the wall.

   She traced the curve of the bull horn with her fingers.

   A farmer carved a bull horn into a drinking cup.

Word forms

Common combinations

speak through a bull horn

The captain spoke through a bull horn across the harbor.

shout into a bull horn

He shouted into a bull horn to reach the back row.

electric bull horn

The electric bull horn had a built-in siren.

carved bull horn

The carved bull horn was sold at the market.

loud bull horn

A loud bull horn made the announcement clear.

Synonyms and how they differ

megaphone

Megaphone is the general term for a device that makes the voice louder, and is common in British English where bull horn sounds American.

loudhailer

Loudhailer is the British word for the same device and sounds a little old-fashioned.

loudspeaker

Loudspeaker usually means a fixed sound system or speaker, not a device carried in the hand.

horn

Horn can mean an animal's horn or a signaling device, so it is vaguer than bull horn.

Opposites

Word family

bullhorn noun

the one-word spelling of the megaphone

bull noun

a male cow or ox

horn noun

a hard growth on an animal's head, or a device that makes a loud sound

megaphone noun

a cone-shaped device for amplifying the voice

Commonly confused: bull horn or bugle?

Practice

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

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