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Synonyms

bulldog

American  
[bool-dawg, -dog] / ˈbʊlˌdɔg, -ˌdɒg /

noun

  1. one of an English breed of medium-sized, short-haired, muscular dogs with prominent, undershot jaws, usually having a white and tan or brindled coat, raised originally for bullbaiting.

  2. Informal. a stubbornly persistent person.

  3. a short-barreled revolver of large caliber.

  4. Metallurgy. slag from a puddling furnace.

  5. an assistant to the proctor at Oxford and Cambridge universities.

adjective

  1. like or characteristic of a bulldog or of a bulldog's jaws.

    bulldog obstinacy.

verb (used with object)

bulldogged, bulldogging

  1. to attack in the manner of a bulldog.

  2. Western U.S. to throw (a calf, steer, etc.) to the ground by seizing the horns and twisting the head.

bulldog British  
/ ˈbʊlˌdɒɡ /

noun

  1. a sturdy thickset breed of dog with an undershot jaw, short nose, broad head, and a muscular body

  2. (at Oxford University) an official who accompanies the proctors on ceremonial occasions

  3. commerce a fixed-interest bond issued in Britain by a foreign borrower

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • bulldoggedness noun
  • bulldogger noun

Etymology

Origin of bulldog

First recorded in 1490–1500; bull 1 + dog

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Vanessa admitted she takes her 10-year-old bulldog Bear everywhere she can and would feel "put out" and not welcome at places that don't allow dogs.

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

Boasberg appears well aware of Trump’s bulldog approach on social media.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

A Rover dogsitter lost an El Sereno couple’s French bulldog.

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2025

“No one who sees me in action would doubt that I remain the bulldog that I am,” Connolly said at the time, about 135 days before announcing his retirement from public life.

From Salon • Apr. 29, 2025

The list could go on—the Yankee and the Cavalier, the orator and the writer, the bulldog and the greyhound.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.