Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of several stocky North American freshwater catfishes of the genus Ameiurus, having a tail that is not forked.
  • noun Any of several sculpins, especially the miller's thumb.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The popular name of certain fishes.
  • noun A tadpole.
  • noun A small water-insect of a black color.
  • noun The golden plover, Charadrius fulvus.
  • noun A stupid fellow; a lubber.
  • Same as bull-headed.
  • noun A local name for a river-mussel, Pleurobema æsopus, found in the Mississippi, the shell of which is used in the manufacture of pearl buttons.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A fresh-water fish of many species, of the genus Uranidea, esp. Uranidea gobio of Europe, and Uranidea Richardsoni of the United States; -- called also miller's thumb.
  • noun In America, several species of Amiurus; -- called also catfish, horned pout, and bullpout.
  • noun A marine fish of the genus Cottus; the sculpin.
  • noun The black-bellied plover (Squatarola helvetica); -- called also beetlehead.
  • noun The golden plover.
  • noun colloq. A stupid fellow; a lubber.
  • noun (Zoöl.) A small black water insect.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the kingfish of Florida (Menticirrus alburnus).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun North America any of a variety of related species of generally dark-colored catfish in the family Ictaluridae.
  • noun Europe Any of various sculpins of the order Scorpaeniformes
  • noun Europe The European bullhead, Cottus gobio.
  • noun rail transport bullhead rail

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of several common freshwater catfishes of the United States
  • noun freshwater sculpin with a large flattened bony-plated head with hornlike spines

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

bull +‎ head

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Examples

  • The bullhead is raised of the floor by light but sturdy, chromium plated steel legs, and use of the leather in the form of the head signifies a radical unity between to the two elements, as the bull is source of the leather.

    Han Plate | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • The mud weighs about 13 pounds per gallon and is much heavier than the oil, so it should push -- or "bullhead" -- the oil back down the well toward its origin in the ancient rock more than 13,000 feet below the wellhead.

    BP aims to plug gulf oil well for good with two-pronged 'kill' shot 2010

  • The mud weighs about 13 pounds per gallon and is much heavier than the oil, so it should push -- or "bullhead" -- the oil back down the well toward its origin in the ancient rock more than 13,000 feet below the wellhead.

    BP aims to plug gulf oil well for good with two-pronged 'kill' shot 2010

  • Yes | No | Report from Cgull wrote 20 weeks 6 days ago channel cats have a longer fin on the underside that runs in front of the tail, are light in color. flatheads have a flat head and a larger mouth, flathead feed mostly at night and are sometimes called a yellow cat and have a more rounded anal fin. the bullhead is shorter, has a bull head, has a rounded anl fin and is darker

    how do you tell channel, flathead, and bullhead catfish apart? 2009

  • Yes | No | Report from Cgull wrote 20 weeks 6 days ago channel cats have a longer fin on the underside that runs in front of the tail, are light in color. flatheads have a flat head and a larger mouth, flathead feed mostly at night and are sometimes called a yellow cat and have a more rounded anal fin. the bullhead is shorter, has a bull head, has a rounded anl fin and is darker

    how do you tell channel, flathead, and bullhead catfish apart? 2009

  • It is the largest catfish sometimes called bullhead ever recorded in piscatorial history.

    2008 June 2008

  • The bullhead is a fish that has no scales, but in lieu thereof is a fine

    Peck's Compendium of Fun 1878

  • Some fishes, such as bullhead and dogfish, have a true sense of smell, detecting by their nostrils very dilute substances permeating the water from a distance.

    The Outline of Science, Vol. 1 (of 4) A Plain Story Simply Told J. Arthur Thomson 1897

  • The next shot at killing BP's well in the Gulf of Mexico could begin as early as tonight as engineers plan to pump heavy mud into the capped but still dangerous well and "bullhead" the oil back down into its source rock 2 1/2 miles below the seafloor.

    azcentral.com | news 2010

  • The next shot at killing BP's well in the Gulf of Mexico could begin as early as tonight as engineers plan to pump heavy mud into the capped but still dangerous well and "bullhead" the rogue oil back down into its source rock 21/2 miles below the seafloor.

    post-gazette.com - News 2010

Comments

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  • Obsolete name for the Black-Bellied Plover.

    December 7, 2007

  • In the language of railway telegraphers, "Buy materials per your wire and make emergency requisition to cover". --US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906.

    January 21, 2013