1887. G. R. Sims, How the Poor Live, p. 148. In these places, too,
the lodgers divide their food frequently, and a man, seeing a
neighbour without anything, will hand him his teapot, and say,
‘Here you are, mate; here’s a bull for you.’ A ‘bull’ is a teapot
with the leaves left in for a second brew.
6. (thieves’.)—Prison rations of meat, an allusion to its toughness;
also generally used for meat without any reference to its being either
tough or tender. A French equivalent is la bidoche. [Its derivation is
suggested in the following quot.]
1883. Echo, Jan. 25, p. 2, col. 3. Thus from the French ‘bouilli’
we probably get the prison slang term bull for a ration of meat.
7. (American.)—A locomotive; the word is sometimes lengthened into
bullgine.