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PlainSpell

bull

/bʊl/noun, adjective, verb

bull is spelled B-U-L-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 4,015th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “bear vs bull” about 2,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, bull means “Specifically, one that is uncastrated” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bull is bulls.

How many letters and syllables are in bull?

Letters4: B-U-L-L
Syllables1
In writing22 times per million words; the 4,015th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is bull?

Bull appears 22 times per million words in written English, the 4,015th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce bull?

  • /bʊl/
  • /bʉl/

Bull has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bull.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with bull

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

bear vs bull2,900 G

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of bull

  • bulls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • bulling participle, present
  • bulled participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does bull mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Specifically, one that is uncastrated.

  2. 2

    Any bovine of an aggressive or long-horned breed regardless of age and sex.

  3. 3

    A male of domesticated cattle or oxen of any age.

  4. 4

    Any adult male bovine.

  5. 5

    An adult male of certain large mammals, such as whales, elephants, camels and seals.

  6. 6

    slangBeef.

  7. 7

    A large, strong man.

  8. 8

    An investor who buys (commodities or securities) in anticipation of a rise in prices.

  9. 9

    A papal bull, an official document or edict from the Pope.

  10. 10

    A seal affixed to a document, especially a document from the Pope.

  11. 11

    A lie.

  12. 12

    informalNonsense.

  13. 13

    obsoleteA bubble.

adjective

  1. 1

    Large and strong, like a bull.

  2. 2

    Of large mammals, adult male.

    a bull elephant

  3. 3

    Characterized by rising prices or belief that prices will rise.

    a bull market

  4. 4

    Stupid.

verb

  1. 1

    To force oneself (in a particular direction); to move aggressively.

    He bulled his way in.

  2. 2

    To be in heat; to be ready for mating with a bull.

  3. 3

    To mate with (a cow or heifer).

  4. 4

    To endeavour to raise the market price of.

    to bull railroad bonds

  5. 5

    To endeavour to raise prices in.

    to bull the market

  6. 6

    To mock; to cheat.

  7. 7

    To lie, to tell untruths.

  8. 8

    UKTo polish (boots) to a high shine.

  9. 9

    datedTo publish in a papal bull.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Bull in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtaureau (uncastrated adult male bovine), mâle (adult male animal), vache, bœuf, chien, poulet (slang: policeman)
GermanBulle, Stier (uncastrated adult male bovine), Bullen-, bullen- (large and strong)
Portuguesetouro, toiro (uncastrated adult male bovine), macho (adult male animal), tira (slang: policeman), brutamontes (large, strong man), forçar (force oneself)
Spanishtoro (uncastrated adult male bovine), poli, madero (slang: policeman), mamar (lie), bula (official document from the Pope), bulo (nonsense)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does bull come from?

From Middle English bole, bul, bule, from a conflation of Old English bula (“bull, steer”) and Old Norse boli, both from Proto-Germanic *bulô (“bull”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥no-, from *bʰel- (“to blow, swell up”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after bull