different between bully vs threaten
bully
English
Etymology
From 1530, as a term of endearment, probably a diminutive ( +? -y) of Dutch boel (“lover; brother”), from Middle Dutch boel, boele (“brother; lover”), from Old Dutch *buolo, from Proto-Germanic *b?lô (compare Middle Low German bôle (“brother”), Middle High German buole (“brother; close relative; close relation”) (whence German Buhle (“lover”)), Old English B?la, B?lla (personal name), diminutive of expressive *b?- (“brother, father”). Compare also Latvian b?linš (“brother”). More at boy.
The term acquired negative senses during the 17th century; first ‘noisy, blustering fellow’ then ‘a person who is cruel to others’. Possibly influenced by bull (“male cattle”) or via the ‘prostitute's minder’ sense. The positive senses are dated, but survive in phrases such as bully pulpit.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?b?li/
- Rhymes: -?li
Noun
bully (countable and uncountable, plural bullies)
- A person who is intentionally physically or emotionally cruel to others, especially to those who are weaker or have less power or privilege. [from late 17th c.]
- A noisy, blustering, tyrannical person, more insolent than courageous; one who is threatening and quarrelsome.
- A hired thug.
- 1849, John McLean, Notes of a Twenty-Five Years' Service in the Hudson's Bay Territory, pp. 42-3:
- Mr. Fisher returned from town... he had learnt that our opponents intended to shift the scene of operations to the Chats... We understood that they had hired two bullies for the purpose of deciding the matter par voie de fait. Mr Fisher hired two of the same description, who were supposed to be more than a match for the opposition party.
- Synonyms: henchman, thug
- 1849, John McLean, Notes of a Twenty-Five Years' Service in the Hudson's Bay Territory, pp. 42-3:
- A sex worker’s minder.
- Synonyms: pimp; see also Thesaurus:pimp
- 2009, Dan Cruikshank, Secret History of Georgian London, Random House, p. 473:
- The Proclamation Society and the Society for the Suppression of Vice were more concerned with obscene literature […] than with hands-on street battles with prostitutes and their bullies […].
- (uncountable) Bully beef.
- (obsolete) A brisk, dashing fellow.
- The small scrum in the Eton College field game.
- Various small freshwater or brackishwater fish of the family Eleotridae; sleeper goby.
- (obsolete or dialectal, Ireland and Northern England) An (eldest) brother; a fellow workman; comrade
- (dialectal) A companion; mate (male or female).
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:friend
- (obsolete) A darling, sweetheart (male or female).
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sweetheart
- (field hockey) A standoff between two players from the opposing teams, who repeatedly hit each other's hockey sticks and then attempt to acquire the ball, as a method of resuming the game in certain circumstances. Also called bully-off.
- (mining) A miner's hammer.
Translations
Verb
bully (third-person singular simple present bullies, present participle bullying, simple past and past participle bullied)
- (transitive) To intimidate (someone) as a bully.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:intimidate
- (transitive) To act aggressively towards.
- Synonyms: push around, ride roughshod over
Translations
Adjective
bully (comparative bullier, superlative bulliest)
- (US, slang) Very good.
- Synonyms: excellent; see also Thesaurus:excellent
- 1916, The Independent (volumes 35-36, page 6)
- She is a bully woman, not only a good mother, but a wonderful in-law
- (slang, obsolete) Jovial and blustering.
- Synonym: dashing
- 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor Act II, scene iii:
Derived terms
- bully boy
- bully pulpit
Translations
Interjection
bully
- (often followed by for) Well done!
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:well done
Translations
Further reading
- bully on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
References
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from English bully, itself a derivation of Dutch boel (“lover; brother”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?bu.li/
- Hyphenation: bul?ly
Noun
bully m (plural bully's)
- (field hockey) bully (way of resuming the game with a standoff between two opposing players who repeatedly hit each other's sticks, then try to gain possession of the ball)
Spanish
Noun
bully m (plural bullys or bullies or bully)
- bully
bully From the web:
- what bullying
- what bullying means
- what bully sticks are made of
- what bullying does
- what bully sticks are made in usa
- what bullying does to the brain
- what bullying looks like
- what bullying is not
threaten
English
Etymology
From Middle English þreaten or þreten, from Old English þr?atian.
Pronunciation
- enPR: thr?t?n?, IPA(key): /????t.n?/
- Hyphenation: threat?en
Verb
threaten (third-person singular simple present threatens, present participle threatening, simple past and past participle threatened)
- To make a threat against someone; to use threats.
- He threatened me with a knife.
- To menace, or be dangerous.
- The rocks threatened the ship's survival.
- To portend, or give a warning of.
- The black clouds threatened heavy rain.
- (figuratively) To be close to equaling or surpassing (a record, etc.)
- 2000, Lew Freedman, Diamonds in the Rough: Baseball Stories from Alaska, ?ISBN, page 69
- The player quickly surmised that things weren't kosher and the suddenly wiser ballplayer threatened the world record for the fifty-yard dash as he sought safety. As Reynolds dived into the van, Dietz and the other players rolled with laughter.
- 2000, Lew Freedman, Diamonds in the Rough: Baseball Stories from Alaska, ?ISBN, page 69
Usage notes
- This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Translations
threaten From the web:
- what threatens biodiversity
- what threatens coral reefs
- what threatened the sugarcane crop in the 1930’s
- what threatens the tundra biome
- what threatens our water supply
- what threatens the amazon rainforest
- what threatens the newly hatched chicks
- what threatens wetlands
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