Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A public spectacle, performed especially in Spain, Portugal, and parts of Latin America, in which a fighting bull is engaged in a series of traditional maneuvers culminating usually with the ceremonial execution of the bull by sword. In Portugal the bull is often fought from horseback and is not killed.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A combat between men and a bull or bulls: a popular amusement among the Spaniards and Portuguese.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun a sport of great antiquity, in which men torment, and fight with, a bull or bulls in an arena, for public amusement, -- still popular in Spain, Portugal and Latin American. In the Spanish version a matador kills the bull with a sword after the bull has been weakened by wounds from small barbed rods, and after he has displayed courage and artistic skill in causing the bull to charge many times while he stands still or nearly still. In some versions the bull is not killed. Occasionally the matador is wounded or killed by the bull.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
public spectacle , inSpain and some otherLatin countries, in which a personbaits and oftenkills abull .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a Spanish or Portuguese or Latin American spectacle; a matador baits and (usually) kills a bull in an arena before many spectators
Etymologies
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Examples
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This espectáculo or show with its parody of a bullfight is called 'charlotada'.
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This espectáculo or show with its parody of a bullfight is called 'charlotada'.
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A bullfight is generally referred to as a “corrida de toros” (the running of the bulls).
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Decorated in bullfight pictures and posters and owned by the same gentleman that has had it for 18 years or more.
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Someone heard that matadors call their bullfight costume a suit of lights and took the concept literally.
links and linkage badger 2006
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The other time a bullfight was arranged in my honour during a visit to the village of Pujini.
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"A bullfight is a stupid, cruel, disgusting business," said he.
The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle Hugh Lofting 1916
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It is the kind of place where bulls run through the DNA ... where the bullfight is the highlight of the fiesta
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It is the kind of place where bulls run through the DNA, where the annual fiesta is the highlight of the year, and where the bullfight is the highlight of the fiesta, where bullfighters are billed like film stars on colourful retro-style posters.
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"The bullfight is a portrayal of life as it is, from life to death," he argues.
bilby commented on the word bullfight
"An abattoir in fancy dress."
- anon.
September 9, 2008