▪ I. bullock, n.
(ˈbʊlək)
Forms: 1–3 bulluc, 5 bullok, 6 bolok, 6–7 bullocke, 6– bullock.
[OE. bulluc; see bull n.1, and cf. ballock, hassock. (The alleged form bulluca is spurious.)]
1. Orig. a young bull, or bull calf; but afterwards, and in later times always, a castrated bull, an ox.
| a 1000 Interlinear Gloss. on the Liber Scintillarum liv. (MS. Reg. 7. C. iv.) To bulluce [Lat. ad vitulum]. a 1240 Cuckoo Song in Ritson Anc. Songs 3 Bulluc sterteþ. bucke uerteþ. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 55 Bullok, boculus, vitulus. 1521 Bury Wills (1850) 122 Item, delyuerid the boloks, vj, acordyng after y⊇ will. a 1553 Udall Royster D. i. iv, I know that, but my mind was on bullockes and steeres. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 202 Why that's spoken like an honest Drouier, so they sel Bullockes. 1611 Bible Ps. li. 19 Then shall they offer bullockes vpon thine altar. 1720 Gay Poems (1745) I. 178 Here lowing bullocks raise their horned head. 1815 Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) II. 135 Bullocks are..more used to plough than camels. |
† 2. Applied loosely to a bull, or bovine beast generally.
Obs. exc. dial.| 1535 Coverdale Job xxi. 10 Their bullock gendreth, and that not out of tyme. 1787 Marshall Norfolk Gloss. (E.D.S.) Bullocks, a general term, in Norfolk, for all kinds of cattle at turneps, etc.; whether they be oxen, steers, heifers, or cows. 1875 Parish Sussex Dial., Bullock, a fat beast of either sex..‘Yes, she's a purty cow..one of these days she'll make a nice bullock.’ |
† 3. Jestingly used for: A papal
bull.
Obs.| 1537 Latimer Serm. & Rem. (1845) 378, I send you here a bullock which I did find amongst my bulls. 1589 Warner Alb. Eng. v. xxiv. 121 Some egge vs sla the Prince and shewe a Bullocke fra the Pope. |
4. A slang term applied in Australian cities to a countryman or bushman.
5. In the names of various plants, as
bullock's eye, the common Houseleek,
Sempervivum tectorum;
bullock's heart, the fruit of
Anona reticulata;
bullock's lungwort, the Great Mullein,
Verbascum Thapsus L.
| 1597 Gerard Herbal cclvi. 630 The countrey people..in Kent, doe giue their cattell the leaues to drinke against the cough of the lungs..whereupon they do call it Bullocks Longwoort. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 135 Great Mullein..was..Bullock's Lungwort. 1861 Mrs. Lankester Wild Flowers 57 House-leek..is frequently called Jupiter's Eye, Bullock's Eye, or Jupiter's Beard. 1866 Treas. Bot., Bullock's Heart, a name given to the fruit of Anona reticulata, a kind of custard apple. |
6. Comb. and
attrib. a. simple
attrib., as
bullock-bell,
bullock-car,
bullock-carriage,
bullock-cart,
bullock-chariot,
bullock-dray,
bullock-gear,
bullock-hump,
bullock-land,
bullock-load,
bullock-pasture,
bullock-shed,
bullock-ship,
bullock-train,
bullock-turnip,
bullock-vessel,
bullock-wagon,
bullock-wainster;
b. objective genitive, as
bullock-driver,
bullock-teasing; also
bullock-leech, a cattle-doctor;
bullock-puncher (
Australian and
N.Z.)
= bullock-driver; hence
bullock-punching.
bullock's-eye (see
quot.;
cf. bull's-eye); also see 5;
bullock-trunk, a trunk suited for carriage in a bullock-cart, or on bullock-back.
| 1911 C. E. W. Bean ‘Dreadnought’ of Darling v. 48, I fancy there is a *bullock-bell somewhere, Joe. 1928 ‘Brent of Bin Bin’ Up Country viii. 126 The bullock bells added to the orchestra of frogs and the millions of crickets. |
| 1830 W. S. Moorsom Lett. fr. Nova Scotia 241 The Portuguese *bullock-car of Peninsular memory. 1903 Daily Chron. 11 Mar. 8/2 Mr. Chamberlain..subsequently proceeded to Mount Church, partly by municipal bullock-car. |
| 1839 J. C. Maitland Lett. fr. Madras (1843) 299 All the poor widows, with their palanquins and *bullock-carriages covered with black cloth. |
| 1858 Merc. Mar. Mag. V. 47 The difference..is 48 hours by *bullock-carts. |
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. v. xii. 316 *Bullock-chariots, and goadsmen in Roman Costume. |
| 1857 Westgarth Victoria, &c. xi. 251 Carriage by *bullock-drays from Melbourne. |
| 1792 Gentl. Mag. LXII. i. 175 We lost..about 600 privates, besides pack-horse and *bullock-drivers. 1862 Lloyd Tasmania xix. 480 Shepherds, Bullock drivers, and other servants were seized with the desire to turn diggers of gold. |
| 1848 Haygarth Bush Life Australia ii. 19 Every sort of saddlery, *bullock-gear, and harness of every description. |
| 1849–52 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. IV. 1355 The *bullock-hump..is not by any means so characteristic of this race. |
| 1881 Daily News 31 Aug. 2/2 The excellent *bullock land..would meet ready purchasers. |
| 1774 Lambert in Phil. Trans. LXVI. 498 A farrier and *bullock-leach. |
| 1803 Welllington Let. in Gurw. Disp. II. 567 We have not lost a *bullock-load of any thing during the war. |
| 1856 W. H. S. Roberts Diary 19 Sept. in H. Beattie Early Runholding in Otago (1947) i. vi. 43 The whip..was a powerful flagellator in the hands of an experienced ‘*bullock-puncher’. 1921 H. Guthrie-Smith Tutira xxxviii. 382 Owners and employees had worked shoulder to shoulder as..bullock-punchers. |
| 1891 G. Chamier Philosopher Dick II. xv. 411 He soon got charge of a team, and was loud in expatiating on the art of *bullock-punching. |
| 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Eye, *Bullock's Eye, Oeil de bœuf, denotes a little sky-light in the covering, or roof, intended to illumine a granary, or the like. |
| 1865 Cornh. Mag. XI. 105 The filthy quarters allotted me in an old *bullock-shed..exhausted all endurance. |
| 1858 W. Ellis Vis. Madagascar ii. 21 Mr. Jeffreys..died during a voyage from Madagascar to Mauritius in the miserable hold of a *bullock ship. |
| 1879 Dowden Southey iii. 47 The sorry spectacle of *bullock-teasing made a slighter impression on him. |
| 1859 Lang Wand. India 182 The Government has a *bullock-train for the conveyance of stores. |
| 1845 Stocqueler Handbk. Brit. India (1854) 78 *Bullock-trunks..are preferable, as they are permanently useful. |
| 1884 Whitby Gaz. 9 Aug. 2/5 The crop of..*bullock turnips must now be sown. |
| 1863 Kinglake Crimea II. 179 There were some Tartar peasants passing..with small *bullock-waggons. |
| 1883 Gd. Words July 420/1 The *bullock-wainster who dared to hinder his progress. |
▪ II. ˈbullock, v. [f. prec.] † 1. trans. and intr. = bully v.
1 Obs. exc. dial.| 1716 [Implied in bullocking ppl. a. below]. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones ii. vi, You have charged me with bullocking you into owning the truth. 1764 Foote Mayor of G. ii. i, She shan't think to bullock and domineer over me. 1875 Lanc. Gloss. (E.D.S.) 61 Fair play! yo munnot bullock him. |
2. intr. To work like a bullock,
i.e. strenuously without intermission.
Austral. and
N.Z. colloq.| 1888, 1900 [Implied in bullocking below]. 1900 H. Lawson Over Sliprails 19 We've..come down to have a bit of a holiday before going back to bullock for another six months or a year. 1946 K. Tennant Lost Haven (1947) 52 If he had not ‘bullocked’ and sweated and driven himself. |
3. to bullock one's way: to make one's way with heavy violence.
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 1 June 1/2 Sir William has frequently been referred to as ‘bullocking’ his way through Parliament. 1921 Public Opinion 10 June 538/2 To bullock his way through a British Amateur Championship. 1930 V. Palmer Passage i. 15 Fred was tough as tarred canvas, able to bullock his way anywhere. 1965 Economist 31 July 416/2 They picked, by a narrow majority, the man they reckoned most likely to bullock their way back into power. |
Hence
ˈbullocking vbl. n. and ppl. a.| 1716 M. Davies Ath. Brit. i. 272 Upon the Evidence of that bullocking Fryar Campanella. 1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms vii, It would have paid us better if we'd read a little more and put the ‘bullocking’ on one side. 1900 H. Lawson Over Sliprails 12 You'll never make money, except by hard graft—hard, bullocking nigger-driving graft. |