bully

Less common meanings

4. 4
   interjection

   Used to express praise for something well done, often followed by for; in modern use it is often sarcastic.

   'I ran five miles before breakfast.' 'Well, bully for you,' she muttered without looking up.

   When her coworker bragged about his new boat again, she rolled her eyes and said, "Bully for you."

   UsageMostly in the fixed phrase bully for you (or him, her); your tone shows whether you mean praise.

   Similarbravo, congratulations, congrats, kudos

   Note

   The common frame is bully for you, and modern speakers often mean it as a dry put-down of someone showing off rather than as praise; only the tone tells which. Alone, Bully! keeps an older and heartier ring, the cheer that fills Jerome Alden's Bully: An Adventure with Teddy Roosevelt, a one-man play first staged in 1977.

5. 5
   excellentadjectivedatedUS

   Very good or excellent.

   She is a bully woman, not only a good mother, but a wonderful in-law

   1916, The Independent, volumes 35-36

   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.

   1861, Daniel Bryant, Bryant's Songs from Dixie's Land

   Similarexcellent, awesome, brilliant, cool, exceptional

   Oppositeawful, terrible, poor

   Note

   Americans once used it as slang for anything first-rate: a bully horse was a fine one, and The Independent in 1916 calls a woman bully for being a good mother and a wonderful in-law. The word is dated now, so using it straight lends speech a deliberately old-time sound. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • Americans used bully as slang meaning first-rate or excellent. en.wiktionary.org
   • A bully horse meant a fine horse. en.wiktionary.org
6. 6
   hired thugnouncountable or uncountable

   A thug hired to use force or threats on someone else's behalf.

   The mine owners brought in hired bullies to break up the strike.

   A local boss sent his favorite bully around to collect the debt.

   Similarthug, henchman

7. 7
   canned beefnoununcountable

   Canned corned beef; a short form of bully beef.

   The ration packs held cans of bully, crackers, and tea.

   Camp cooks fried the bully with onions to make it more appetizing.

8. 8
   freshwater fishnouncountable or uncountable

   Any of various small fish of the family Eleotridae, the sleeper gobies, that live in fresh or brackish water.

   The survey recorded at least one bully in almost every pool along the lower creek.

   Bullies were the most common fish in the brackish lagoon behind the dunes.

9. 9
   restart (field hockey)nouncountable or uncountable

   In field hockey, a way of restarting play in which one player from each team taps the ground and then the other's stick (now once, formerly three times) before both try to win the ball.

   After the injury stoppage, the umpire restarted play with a bully near the circle.

   Their captain was quick on the bully and nearly always came away with the ball.

   Similarbully-off

   Note

   Field hockey also calls this restart a bully-off, and the two names are interchangeable. Its point is fairness: because both players must clash sticks before either may play the ball, neither side starts with possession, and the ball goes to the quicker hands. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

   • Bully and bully-off name the same field-hockey procedure. en.wiktionary.org
   • Both players must touch sticks before either may play the ball. fih.hockey
   • Neither team begins the bully with possession; describing this as fair is an inference from its neutral setup. tms.fih.ch
10. 10
    companionnoundialectalcountable or uncountable

    A companion or mate, whether a man or a woman.

    Similarbuddy, companion, chum, comrade, bud

    Note

    Dialect speech uses it for a companion of either sex, so my bully can name a woman's closest friend as easily as a man's mate. The warmth does not travel outside those dialects: a listener who knows only the cruel meaning will hear an accusation, so companion or mate is the safe word in general writing. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact

    • In dialect speech, bully can mean a companion or mate of either sex. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    nounobsoleteIrelandNorthern Englandcountable or uncountable

    A brother, or specifically an eldest brother; also a fellow workman or comrade.

    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.

    1824, Robert Gilchrist, “The Skipper's Erudition”

    Note

    Ireland and the north of England kept this word for a brother, especially the eldest, and for the men one worked beside. Robert Gilchrist's song The Skipper's Erudition (1824) shows the working sense: a keel's crew, the bullies, wet their throats so often overnight that every one of them forgot the ship's name. Outside dialect speech it is obsolete. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • Ireland and northern England have dialect senses meaning brother, especially eldest brother, and fellow workman or comrade. en.wiktionary.org
    • Robert Gilchrist wrote the song The Skipper's Erudition, also called The Amphitrite. en.wikipedia.org
    • The song calls the keelmen bullies and says their drinking overnight made them all forget the ship's name. gutenberg.org
12. 12
    nounobsoletecountable or uncountable

    A darling or sweetheart, whether a man or a woman.

    I have promised to be with the sweet bully early in the morning of her important day.

    1753, Samuel Richardson, The History of Sir Charles Grandison

    I kiss his dirty shoe, and from heart-string / I love the lovely bully. What is thy name?

    1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”

    Similardarling, dear, baby, babe, dearest

    Note

    Lovers and babies alike could be called this, often with a warm adjective in front. In Henry V (first printed in 1600) Pistol says I love the lovely bully, and a letter in Samuel Richardson's Sir Charles Grandison (1753) promises to be with the sweet bully on her important day. In William Carleton's Fardorougha the Miser, a father is told he is not worthy of such a bully. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 7 facts

    • Bully could mean a sweetheart or darling of either sex. en.wiktionary.org
    • Affectionate adjectives could precede bully, as the cited lovely and sweet examples demonstrate. gutenberg.org
    • Henry V was first published in 1600; 1599 is its first-performance year. shakespearedocumented.folger.edu
    • Shakespeare wrote the quoted words in Henry V; Pistol speaks them about the king. folger.edu
    • Sir Charles Grandison began publication in 1753. en.wikipedia.org
    • In Samuel Richardson's novel, Harriet Byron writes that she has promised to attend the sweet Bully, Charlotte Grandison, on her wedding day. gutenberg.org
    • In William Carleton's Fardorougha the Miser, Mrs. Moan tells the infant's father that he is unworthy of such a bully, confirming its application to a baby. gutenberg.org
13. 13
    nounobsoletecountable or uncountable

    A lively, energetic man with a bold, stylish air.

    What sayest thou, Bully Bottom?

    c. 1595, William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”

    Note

    In Shakespeare's English the word praised a man. In A Midsummer Night's Dream, Bottom is hailed as Bully Bottom, the word set before his name like a friendly title, much as fine fellow might be. It sat far nearer the "sweetheart" meaning than the cruel one, and since the sense is obsolete, a modern reader needs telling that the greeting is warm. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Bully had an approving sense describing a lively, dashing man; that sense is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
    • In Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Quince addresses Bottom as bully Bottom, placing the friendly epithet before his name. folger.edu
    • The greeting belongs to the word's affectionate historical uses, supporting the comparison with sweetheart. en.wiktionary.org
    • The approving noun sense is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
14. 14
    adjectiveobsolete

    Good-humored and hearty, but loud and boastful in manner.

    Bless thee, bully doctor!

    1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor

    Note

    The adjective sits close to the dashing-fellow noun and works the same way, set before a title as a hearty greeting: Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor (first printed in 1602) has Bless thee, bully doctor! It mixes good humor with bluster. As obsolete slang it is easily misread today, and a modern reader may take the greeting for an insult. Source

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • William Shakespeare wrote The Merry Wives of Windsor. shakespearedocumented.folger.edu
    • The play was first published in 1602. folger.edu
    • The play contains this exact greeting, spoken by the Host to Doctor Caius. shakespeare.mit.edu
15. 15
    noun

    A person who acts as a minder for a sex worker, guarding and watching over them.
16. 16
    noun

    A hammer used by miners in their work.
17. 17
    noun

    The small scrum that forms during play in the Eton College field game.