bulldog (buldog)

[ bouledogue, Ru . bulidogŭ, Hind. guldānk - kuttā ( kutta, dog). Cf. equiv. D. bulhond (hond = E. hound), LG. bullenbiter = G. bullenbei er = Dan. bulbider, lit. 'bull-biter.] 1. A variety of dog of comparatively small size, but very strong and muscular, with a large head, broad muzzle, short hair, tapering smooth tail, and remarkable courage and ferocity. Dogs of this kind were formerly much used in bullbaiting, whence the name.-21. A bailiff. I sent for a couple of bull - dogs , and arrested him. Farquhar , Love and a Bottle, iii. 2. 3. The a istant or servant who attends the proctor of an English university when on duty. Sentiments which vanish for ever at the sight of the proctor with his bull - dogs , as they call them, or four muscular fellows which [sic] always follow him, like so many bailiffs. Westminster Rev. , XXXV. 232. 4. [Cf. barker1, 4.] A pistol; in recent use, a small revolver with a short barrel carrying a large ball. [Cant.] So "I have always a brace of bulldogs about me.". saying, he exhibited a very handsome, highly finished, and richly mounted pair of pistols. Scott, St. Ronan's Well, II. 191. 5. Naut.: (a) The great gun in the officers' wardroom cabin. (b) A general term for main-deck guns.-6. In metal., tap-cinder from the puddling-furnace, after the protoxid of iron has been converted into sesquioxid by roasting. It may be used as an ore of iron for making what is known as cinder-iron. It is also extensively used as a lining for the sides of the puddling-furnace. [Eng.] 7. A name given by the Canadian half-breeds to the gadfly. - Bulldog bat. See bat2. - Bulldog forceps, forceps with pointed teeth for grasping an artery, etc.