bull's-eye

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bull's-eye

or bull's eye (bo͝olz′ī′)

a. The small central circle on a target.

b. A shot that hits this circle.

a. A direct hit: scored a bull's-eye on the window with a snowball.

b. The precise accomplishment of a goal or purpose: "Most marketing these days .... hits the bull's-eye for laughs, razzle-dazzle, and cleverness" (Jay Conrad Levinson).

3. A thick, circular piece of glass set, as in a roof or ship's deck, to admit light.

4. A circular opening or window.

a. A plano-convex lens used to concentrate light.

b. A lantern or lamp having such a lens.

6. A piece of round hard candy.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bull's-eye

1. (Archery) the small central disc of a target, usually the highest valued area

2. (Archery) a shot hitting this

3. informal something that exactly achieves its aim

4. (Building) a small circular or oval window or opening

5. (Nautical Terms) a thick disc of glass set into a ship's deck, etc, to admit light

6. (Crafts) the glass boss at the centre of a sheet of blown glass

7. (General Physics)

a. a small thick plano-convex lens used as a condenser

b. a lamp or lantern containing such a lens

8. (Cookery) a peppermint-flavoured, usually striped, boiled sweet

9. (Nautical Terms) nautical a circular or oval wooden block with a groove around it for the strop of a shroud and a hole at its centre for a line. Compare deadeye

10. (Physical Geography) meteorol the eye or centre of a cyclone

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bull's′-eye`

n., pl. -eyes.

1. the circular spot, usu. black, at the center of a target.

2. a shot that hits this.

a. the center of a military target in a bombing raid.

b. a missile that strikes the center of a target.

c. an instance of aiming and firing a missile that results in its hitting the center of a target.

4. any statement or act that is precisely to the point or achieves a desired result directly.

[1680–90]

bull's-eye

Small disk in the center of the board; scores 50 points.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

bull's-eye - a lantern with a single opening and a sliding panel that can be closed to conceal the light

dark lantern

lantern - light in a transparent protective case

Translations

bull's-eye

[ˈbʊlzaɪ] N

1. [of target] → blanco m
to hit the bull's-eye; score a bull's-eye (lit, fig) → dar en el blanco

2. (= sweet) → caramelo m de menta

3. (= lantern) → linterna f sorda

4. (Naut) → ojo m de buey

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

bull's-eye

[ˈbʊlzˌaɪ] n (of target) → centro (del bersaglio)
to hit the bull's-eye (fig) → far centro, colpire nel segno

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

bull

(bul) noun

1. the male of the ox family and of the whale, walrus, elephant etc.

2. a bull's-eye.

ˈbullock (-lək) noun

1. a young bull.

2. a castrated bull, an ox, often used to pull bullock carts.

ˈbullfight noun

in Spain etc a fight between a bull and men on horseback and on foot.

ˈbullfighter noun

ˈbullring noun

the enclosed area where a bullfight takes place.

ˈbull's-eye noun

the centre of a target, especially in archery, darts etc.

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References in classic literature ?

Bucket stops for a moment at the corner and takes a lighted bull's-eye from the constable on duty there, who then accompanies him with his own particular bull's-eye at his waist.

Bucket coolly asks as he turns his bull's-eye on a line of stinking ruins.

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But there was no room for doubt: there was the arrow, right in the centre of the bull's-eye!

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'A bull's-eye,' said the Night-Inspector, taking up his keys.

Mr Inspector had not moved, and had given no order; but, the satellite slipped his back against the wicket, and laid his left arm along the top of it, and with his right hand turned the bull's-eye he had taken from his chief--in quite a casual manner--towards the stranger.

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There he paused, hearing the slow heavy tread of the policeman on the pavement outside and seeing the flash of the bull's-eye reflected in the window.

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Opposite the window that looked out into the garden, a bull's-eye opened on the yard; a table was placed by the cot and held a wash-basin, two combs, and a piece of blue soap in a broken saucer.

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One doesn't hit the bull's-eye every time; it is something to hit inside the ring.

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Going back at once to the town of Barkingham, I provided myself with a short bit of rope, a little bull's-eye lantern, a small screwdriver, and a nice bit of beef chemically adapted for the soothing of troublesome dogs.

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'Well, well,' said Sampson, smiling as good men smile when they compassionate their own weakness or that of their fellow- creatures, 'this is wide of the bull's-eye. You're to take that, if you please.' As he spoke, he pointed to a couple of half-crowns on the desk.

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Rob shot sixth in the line and landed fairly, being rewarded by an approving grunt from the man with the green blinder, who shot seventh, and with apparent carelessness, yet true to the bull's-eye.

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They were forbidden, however, to go anywhere except on the down and into the woods; the village had been especially prohibited, where huge bull's-eyes and unctuous toffy might be procured in exchange for coin of the realm.