noun · verb · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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General-American:/ˈbʊlˌdoʊzɚ/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈbʊlˌdəʊzə/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:B UH1 L D OW2 Z ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A tractor with caterpillar tracks and an attached blade for pushing earth and building debris for coarse preliminary surface grading, demolishing building structures, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dozer
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: heavy equipment
2
noun
Meaning 2
One who bulldozes.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A member of a self-identified group of white US Southerners who colluded to influence outcomes of post-Reconstruction elections by intimidating, coercing and bullying black voters and legislators, including burning down houses and churches, flogging and murdering opponents.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical, in-plural
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A bully; an overbearing individual.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
verb
Meaning 5
To bulldoze (demolish with a bulldozer).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
verb
Meaning 6
To bulldoze (push through forcefully).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
They bulldozered through the crowd.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
large powerful tractor; a large blade in front flattens areas of ground
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dozer
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: tractor
Narrower terms: angledozer
History
Etymology
Originally bull-dozer (1875, Louisiana, US), in the bullier and terrorizer sense; bulldoze + -er. The name for the earthmoving machine came later, figuratively, from that sense.
Across languages
Translations
81 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
stootskraper
— tractor
Albanian:
buldozer
— tractor
Arabic:
جَرَّارَة
(jarrāra)
— tractor
Arabic:
جَرَّافَة
(jarrāfa)
— tractor
Arabic:
بُولْدُوزَر
(buldūzar)
— tractor
Armenian:
բուլդոզեր
(buldozer)
— tractor
Azerbaijani:
buldozer
— tractor
Belarusian:
бульдо́зер
(bulʹdózjer)
— tractor
Bulgarian:
булдо́зер
(buldózer)
— tractor
Catalan:
buldòzer
— tractor
Catalan:
esplanadora
— tractor
Chinese Mandarin:
推土機 /推土机
(tuītǔjī)
— tractor
Czech:
buldozer
— tractor
Danish:
bulldozer
— tractor
Dutch:
laadschop
— tractor
Dutch:
bulldozer
— tractor
Esperanto:
buldozo
— tractor
Esperanto:
skrapmaŝino
— tractor
Estonian:
buldooser
— tractor
Finnish:
puskutraktori
— tractor
Finnish:
raivaustraktori
— tractor
French:
bulldozer
— tractor
Georgian:
ბულდოზერი
(buldozeri)
— tractor
German:
Planierraupe
— tractor
German:
Bulldozer
— tractor
Greek:
μπουλντόζα
(boulntóza)
— tractor
Greenlandic:
bulldozeri
— tractor
Hebrew:
דַּחְפּוֹר
(daḥpōr)
— tractor
Hungarian:
buldózer
— tractor
Icelandic:
jarðýta
— tractor
Indonesian:
buldoser
— tractor
Interlingua:
bulldozer
— tractor
Italian:
bulldozer
— tractor
Italian:
apripista
— tractor
Italian:
ruspa
— tractor
Italian:
escavatore
— tractor
Italian:
escavatrice
— tractor
Japanese:
ブルドーザー
(burudōzā)
— tractor
Kazakh:
бульдозер
(buldozer)
— tractor
Korean:
불도저
(buldojeo)
— tractor
Kyrgyz:
бульдозер
(buldozer)
— tractor
Latvian:
buldozers
— tractor
Lithuanian:
buldozeris
— tractor
Macedonian:
булдо́жер
(buldóžer)
— tractor
Malay:
jentolak
— tractor
Malay:
buldozer
— tractor
Māori:
wakapana
— tractor
Mongolian:
бульдозер
(bulʹdozer)
— tractor
Mongolian:
шороо түлхэх машин
(šoroo tülxex mašin)
— tractor
