bullpup
/ˈbʊlpʌp/noun
bullpup is a noun meaning “A bullpuppy, a bulldog puppy (of either sex)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled B-U-L-L-P-U-P, and it appears about once in every 14 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of bullpup is bullpups.
What does bullpup mean?
noun
- 1
datedA bullpuppy, a bulldog puppy (of either sex).
- 2
USobsoleteA handgun smaller than a bulldog.
- 3
A firearm configuration in which the trigger is located forward of the magazine and breech, as opposed to a conventional configuration in which the trigger is located rear of the magazine and breech.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce bullpup?
- /ˈbʊlpʌp/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of bullpup
- bullpups plural
- bull pup
- bull-pup
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is bullpup?
Bullpup appears about once in every 14 million words in written English, the 113,022nd 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).
Where does bullpup come from?
From bull + pup. The firearms sense originated from firearm designers in the United States during the 1930s. The unconventional configuration of bullpup rifles was compared by analogy to bulldog puppies, which were considered "squat, ugly, but still aggressive and powerful".
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).