ˈbull's-eye
The eye of a bull (cf. F. œil de bœuf); hence
I. Of glass.
1. A boss of glass, or the central protuberance formed in making a sheet of blown glass. Hence bull's-eyed ppl. a., containing a bull's-eye.
| 1832 Babbage Econ. Manuf. iv. (ed. 2) 36 The centre [of a sheet of glass] presents the appearance of a thick boss or prominence, called the ‘Bull's-eye’. 1863 Reader 28 Nov. 624 A window of small panes with the bull's-eyes in them. 1869 Sala Ship-Chand. (L.) Dingy bull's-eyed panes. 1878 Besant & Rice Chaplain of Fl. iv. 34 Every other pane being those bull's-eye panes. |
2. Naut. A hemispherical piece or thick disc of glass inserted in the side or deck of a ship, or elsewhere, to light the interior.
| 1825 H. Gascoigne Nav. Fame 64 Here a Bulls-eye gives a feeble light. 1843 Commissioner 342 A ‘bull's-eye’..that is a thick, green, half sphere of ground glass. 1882 Nares Seamansh. (ed. 6) 96 A light room outside, with a bull's-eye between it and the magazine. |
3. A lens, hemispherical or plano-convex.
| 1839–47 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. III. 354/1 The condenser..should be a bull's eye or hemispherical lens. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 258/1 The condensers in ordinary use are, The common ‘bull's-eye’ or plano-convex. |
4. A glass of similar shape inserted in the side of a lantern; the lantern itself; also attrib.
| 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 25, 2 or 3 Policemen, with their Bull's-eyes and..truncheons speedily restored order. 1853 Herschel Pop. Lect. Sc. vi. vi. (1873) 224 In a thick fog the bull's-eye of a lanthorn seems to throw out a broad diverging luminous cone. 1861 Andersson Okabango Riv. xxv. 264 We then tried, bull's-eye lanthorn in hand, to obtain a glimpse of his retreating spoor. 1883 Harper's Mag. July 204/1 One..was dazzled..with opening bull's-eyes, and captured. |
II. A circular hole, or an object containing one.
5. Naut. Also bull's eye cringle (see quots.).
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Bull's-eye, a small pulley in the form of a ring, having a rope round the outer edge..and a..hole in the middle for another rope to slide in. 1833 Marryat P. Simple vi, Pass that brace through the bull's eye. 1860 Merc. Mar. Mag. VII. 113 A leach-line is..carried..through a bull's-eye. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Bull's-eye cringle, a piece of wood in the form of a ring, which answers the purpose of an iron thimble; it is seldom used by English seamen, and then only for the fore and main bowline-bridles. |
6. Arch. A small circular opening or window.
| 1865 Athenæum No. 1978. 412/3 The plate-tracery, or bull's-eyes, of the transept ends. 1875 Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Bull's eye, any small circular aperture for the admission of light or air. |
III. Other uses.
7. a. The centre of a target.
| 1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 32 A bull's eye of eight inches diameter. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop 256 This is wide of the bull's-eye. 1860 G. H. K. Vacation Tour 121 The house..stands clear and white on the brown moor, like a target, with a black window for a bull's-eye. |
b. A shot that hits the bull's-eye of a target; fig. a ‘shot’ that hits the mark.
| 1857 J. Blackwood Let. 30 Jan. in G. S. Haight G. Eliot Lett. (1954) II. 290 The public is a very curious animal and..how difficult it is to tell what will hit the bull's eye. 1887, 1891 [see inner B. n.]. 1894 [see magpie 7]. 1951 Essays in Criticism I. i. 6 Some of his observations..seem also to be very just—especially his opinion of Amiel, which is a bulls-eye. |
8. A circular ornament of gold lace.
| 1879 Uniform Reg. in Navy List July (1882) 497/1 Gold lace, to form bull's eyes at the bottom of each back seam. |
9. A sweetmeat so called from its globular shape.
| 1825 Hone Every-day Bk. I. 51 Hard-bake, brandy-balls, and bulls'-eyes. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. iii, Where huge bull's-eyes, and unctuous toffy might be procured. |
10. Naut. ‘A little dark cloud, reddish in the middle, chiefly appearing about the Cape of Good Hope’ (Chambers Cycl. Supp. 1753), supposed to portend a storm; hence the storm itself.
| 1849 D. P. Thomson Meteorol. 406 (L.) The ox-eye or bull's-eye is a wind similar to the tornado. |
11. slang. A crown-piece. (Cf. bull n.1 7.)
| 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew. 1714 in Mem. J. Hall 11 Bull's-Eye, a Crown. 1725 New Cant. Dict. |
12. A hole in cheese, the result of imperfect manufacture. dial.
| 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk. s.v., I dunna like this cheese, it's got too many bulls' eyes in for me. |
13. An old-fashioned type of watch, with the case partly enclosing the glass. Also attrib. U.S.
| 1833 J. Neal Down-Easters I. 78 Lugging out a heavy silver watch,..a genuine bull's eye. 1854 B. P. Shillaber Mrs. Partington 26 The old bull's-eye watch on the nail over the mantel-piece. |
14. A fish of New South Wales, Priacanthus macracanthus, excellent for the table.
| 1883 E. P. Ramsay Food Fishes N.S.W. 9 The ‘bull's-eye’, a beautiful salmon-red fish with small scales. 1966 T. C. Marshall Trop. Fishes Gt. Barrier Reef 181 Family Priacanthidae: Bulls-eyes or Big-eyes. |