TAKE THE BULL BY THE HORNS • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Take the bull by the horns

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/teɪk ðə bʊl baɪ ðə hɔrnz/ Listen

noun

Bull n.

1.

(Zool.) The male of any species of cattle (Bovidae); hence, the male of any large quadruped, as the elephant; also, the male of the whale. Note: The wild bull of the Old Testament is thought to be the oryx, a large species of antelope.

2.

One who, or that which, resembles a bull in character or action.

3.

(Astron.)

(a)

Taurus, the second of the twelve signs of the zodiac.

(b)

A constellation of the zodiac between Aries and Gemini. It contains the Pleiades. "At last from Aries rolls the bounteous sun, And the bright Bull receives him."

4.

(Stock Exchange) One who operates in expectation of a rise in the price of stocks, or in order to effect such a rise. See 4th Bear, n., 5.

5.

A ludicrously false statement; nonsense. Also used as an expletive. (vulgar)

Synonyms: bullshit, Irish bull, horseshit, shit, crap, crapola, bunk, bunkum, buncombe, guff, nonsense, rot, tommyrot, balderdash, hogwash, dogshit.

Bull baiting, the practice of baiting bulls, or rendering them furious, as by setting dogs to attack them.

John Bull, a humorous name for the English, collectively; also, an Englishman. "Good-looking young John Bull."

To take the bull by the horns, to grapple with a difficulty instead of avoiding it.

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Etymology of 'Take the bull by the horns'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Take the bull by the horns" Quotes from Famous Books

... at last to the pitch of nervousness that must rush on the crisis at once, and take the bull by the horns, this valiant piece of cowardice declared that she could not even return the girls to their homes till Rachel knew all about it, and gave the word to drive to the Homestead, further cheered by the recollection that Colonel Keith ...

— The Clever Woman of the Family • Charlotte M. Yonge

... for him to give to the President. This I did. The President, however, apparently decided not to go into the subject, and Secretary Lane, with a courage that can only be appreciated by those who knew the atmosphere of official Washington at that time, decided to take the bull by the horns himself, and at the next meeting with the representatives with the Council in Secretary Baker's office, Secretary Lane ... cut loose and told the actual truth about submarine losses at that time. ... The next morning it was the story of the ...

— The Letters of Franklin K. Lane • Franklin K. Lane

... Should he take the bull by the horns, and advance boldly to attack the monster in its own den? He shrank from this. The gloom of the cavern invested the thing with an additional element of terror, besides the more practical consideration that a confined space might ...

— The Sign of the Spider • Bertram Mitford

... evening he had run out to look for the other boys, just where the crowd was thickest. There was no use in waiting; Pelle was accustomed to take the bull by the horns, and he longed to be taken ...

— Pelle the Conqueror, Complete • Martin Andersen Nexo

... him yield, choose that it be on some unreasonable point, so as to test the measure of your power by the measure of his concession. What victory would there be in making him agree to a reasonable thing? Would that be obeying you? We must always, as the Castilian proverb says, take the bull by the horns; when a bull has once seen the inutility of his defence and of his strength he is beaten. When your husband does a foolish thing for you, ...

— The Marriage Contract • Honore de Balzac

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