morillo Bullfighting.
(moˈriʎo)
Also morrillo, murillo.
[Sp. morrillo fleshy part of the neck of an animal.]
The muscle at the back of the bull's neck, one of the targets for the lances of the bullfighters.
| 1932 E. Hemingway Death in Afternoon xvi. 180 The morillo, or hump of muscle that rises from the back of the bull's neck to his shoulders. 1959 V. J. Kehoe Aficionado! i. 34 They [sc. the picadors] must place a pica (lance) into the rear part of the toro's long hump of neck muscle, known as the morrillo or cerviguillo. 1967 [see divisa]. 1968 S. Oag In Presence of Death 261 They [sc. the picadors] should give it a minimum of three varas to test the bull's courage, weaken its powerful tossing muscle, the murillo, and lower its head. 1971 J. Leibold This is Bullfight ii. 31 The throwing muscle at the back of the neck (called the morrillo) is remarkably developed [in the fighting bull]. |