1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict. Bull-dog, a sugar-loaf.
4. (University.)—A proctor’s assistant or marshall. Cf., quot. from
Brewer’s Reader’s Handbook.
1823. Lockhart, Reg. Dalton, I., x. (1842), 59. Long forgotten
stories about proctor’s bit and bull-dogs baffled. [M.]
1841. Lytton, Night and Morning, bk. III., ch. iii. ‘The proctor
and his bull-dogs came up ... and gave chase to the delinquents ...
the night was dark, and they reached the College in safety.’
1847. Tennyson, Princess, Prologue.
We unworthier told
Of college: he had climb’d across the spikes,
And he had squeezed himself betwixt the bars,
And he had breath’d the Proctor’s dogs.
1880. Brewer, Reader’s Handbook. Bull-dogs, the two servants of a
university proctor, who follow him in his rounds, to assist him in
apprehending students who are violating the university statues,
such as appearing in the streets after dinner without cap and gown,
etc.
5. (University: obsolete.)—A name for a member of Trinity College,
Cambridge.
Bull-Dog Blazer, subs. (American).—A revolver. [Probably a mere
amplification of the kindred English canting term; bull-dog, a pistol,
+ blazer, an allusion to the flash attendant upon firing.] For
synonyms, see Meat in the pot.
Bull-Dose, subs. (American).—A severe castigation or flogging. Verb.—To
thrash; to intimidate; to bully. A term of Southern political origin,
originally referring to an association of negroes formed to insure, by
violent and unlawful means, the success of an election. The phrase has
now passed into general use, political and otherwise, to signify the
adoption and use of coercive measures. [The derivation is almost
literal—a bull-dose, a flogging with a strip of hide; the action itself
being represented by the verb to bulldose. Though indifferently spelt
both with single and double ‘l’ and with ‘s’ and ‘z,’ the correct
version is bulldose.] Also derivatives bulldoser (q.v.), and
bull-dosing, mutatis mutandis, of a kindred meaning.
1876. New York Tribune, Dec. There was a bad case of ‘bulldozing’
in Cincinnati on Monday night. A handful of bold Democrats had
gathered to let out their pent-up desire for Tilden or blood....
Mr. C—— was in the chair, and was warming up the faithful with an
address, when the Republicans crowded around him in so threatening
a manner that he mounted the table, shook his address in their
faces, and declared, like a true hero, that he was not to be
‘intimidated.’
1880. Illust. London News, vol. LXXVII., p. 587, col. 1. The
Americans have lately been using a strange word, ‘bull-dosing,’
which signifies, I believe, political intimidation, but not
personal molestation.
1881. Sat. Review, July 9, p. 40, col. 2. To ‘bull-dose’ a negro in
the Southern States means to flog him to death or nearly to death.
1881. Sat. Review, July 9, p. 40, col. 2. A ‘bull-dose’ means a
large efficient dose of any sort of medicine or punishment.
1887. Cassell’s Mag. (Art. on ‘Americanisms’), June, p. 412. To
‘bulldoze’ is to intimidate, and the word was originally used
respecting the alleged interference with negro voters in Louisiana.
1888. Detroit Evening Journal, 20 Feb. The Democrats complain of
the amounts of money they had to face, but that was not such a
source of trouble as the bulldozing of voters by the mining bosses.
They were driven to the polls, and compelled to vote for Seymour.
A French equivalent is faire son fendart (fendart signifies ‘braggart’
or ‘swaggerer’; fendant in literary French means a hector or bully).
Bull-Doser, subs. (American).—1. A bully; braggart; swaggerer. Cf.,
Bull-dose. French printers call a bully un mata, an abbreviation of
matador. It is curious that this term in the original Spanish not only
signifies a killer of bulls (as in a bull-fight), but also a murderer.
1878. N. American Review, vol. CXXVII., p. 426. The great
‘bulldozer’ of Europe.
1882. New York Tribune, 3 May. The hotel where he was staying was
visited ... by a mob of bull-dozers. [M.]