Pronunciations (4)
-
/ˈbʊli/
Pronunciation notes
- Australia
- Received-Pronunciation
- US
-
/ˈbɵlɪj/
Pronunciation notes
- British
- Southern
- Standard
-
/ˈbʉle/
Pronunciation notes
- Northern-Ireland
- Scotland
-
ˈbʊli
Noun
A person who is intentionally physically or emotionally cruel to others, especially to those whom they perceive as being vulnerable or of less power or privilege.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
-
A playground bully pushed a girl off the swing.
I noticed you being a bully towards people with disabilities.
A noisy, blustering, tyrannical person, more insolent than courageous; one who is threatening and quarrelsome.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
-
Besides, bullies seldom execute the threats they deal in; and men of trick and cunning are not always men of desperate resolves.
More examples (1)
And I think the facts are that Beijing is a belligerent bully jealous and envious of what Taiwan has accomplished- mainland China- that's what I get out of all of this.
A hired thug.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
Mr. Fisher returned from town... he had learnt that our opponents intended to shift the scene of operations to the Chats... We understood that they had hired two bullies for the purpose of deciding the matter par voie de fait. Mr Fisher hired two of the same description, who were supposed to be more than a match for the opposition party.
A sex worker's minder.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
More examples (1)
The Proclamation Society and the Society for the Suppression of Vice were more concerned with obscene literature […] than with hands-on street battles with prostitutes and their bullies […].
Bully beef.
Usage- Uncountable
A brisk, dashing fellow.
Usage- Countable
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Examples
-
What sayest thou, Bully Bottom?
The small scrum in the Eton College field game.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
Any of various small freshwater or brackishwater fish of the family Eleotridae; sleeper gobies.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
An (eldest) brother; a fellow workman; comrade
Usage- Ireland
- Northern-England
- Countable
- dialectal
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Frae Team Gut to Whitley, we' coals black an' brown For the Amphitrite loaded, the keel had come down— But the bullies ower neet had their gobs se oft wet, That the nyem o' the ship yen an' a' did forget.
A companion; mate (male or female).
Usage- Countable
- dialectal
- Uncountable
A darling, sweetheart (male or female).
Usage- Countable
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Examples
-
I kiss his dirty shoe, and from heart-string / I love the lovely bully. What is thy name?
I have promised to be with the sweet bully early in the morning of her important day.
More examples (1)
What! manim-an—kiss your child, man alive. That I may never, but he looks at the darlin’ as if it was a sod of turf! Throth you’re not worthy of havin’ such a bully.
A standoff between two players from the opposing teams, who repeatedly hit each other's hockey sticks and then attempt to acquire the ball, as a method of resuming the game in certain circumstances.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Synonyms
A miner's hammer.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
Verb
To intimidate (someone) as a bully.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
-
You shouldn't bully people for being weak.
I won't have you bullying us out my own house.
More examples (2)
Bradly's stomach kinked in on itself, thinking of Cora struck silly with that corpse on her hands and the copper bullying the truth out of her.
United States Sen. Marsha Blackburn on Thursday became the latest member of Congress to visit Taiwan defying pressure from Beijing, saying, "I will not be bullied by Communist China into turning my back on the island."
To act aggressively towards.
Usage- Transitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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The Potters know their strengths and played to them perfectly here, out-muscling Bolton in midfield and bullying the visitors' back-line at every opportunity.
Adjective
Very good.
Usage- US usage
- Dated
- Slang
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
a bully horse
To sing a bully song I'll try, / Bully for you, bully for you, / Gay as they make them, here I am, / Bully for you, for you.
More examples (2)
He looked down upon the girl beside him—a daughter of the desert walking across the face of a dead world with a son of the jungle. He smiled at the thought. He wished that he had had a sister, and that she had been like this girl. What a bully chum she would have been!
She is a bully woman, not only a good mother, but a wonderful in-law
Jovial and blustering.
Usage- Obsolete
- Slang
- Synonyms
- Examples
-
Bless thee, bully doctor!
Interjection
Well done; often sarcastic in modern use.
Usage- often
- followed by for
- Examples
-
Bully, she's finally asked for that promotion!
Bully! Bully! Finis coronet opus, “the end crowns all”; “may the last be the best!” By Godfrey it was delightful.
Adjective
excellent
- Examples
-
he did a bully job
a neat sports car
More examples (3)
had a great time at the party
you look simply smashing
we had a grand old time
Noun
a cruel and brutal fellow
a hired thug
Verb
be bossy towards
- Broader terms
- Examples
-
Her big brother always bullied her when she was young
discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate