Dictionary

bullpup en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbʊlpʌp/

Etymology

From bull + pup. The firearms sense originated from firearm designers in the United States during the 1930s. The unconventional configuration of bullpup rifles was compared by analogy to bulldog puppies, which were considered "squat, ugly, but still aggressive and powerful".

Meanings

1. (dated) A bullpuppy, a bulldog puppy (of either sex).
   • He sees thou art the best man for the swamp; that thy scent is keen with the bloodhound, thine eye like the hawk's, and thou art quick for fight as the colonel's bullpup. 1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan: A Tale of the Revolution:
2. (US, obsolete) A handgun smaller than a bulldog.
   • He brought with him the holsters of his young master, wrapped up in the fragment of a blanket. “I tink, Mass Willie,” said he, “dat you better hab dese little bullpups yer, onder you own han'. Dere's no telling how soon you may want 'em. De swode is good 'nough, when you hab dem tory in chopping reach, but de pups kin keep guard on door and winder.” 1855, William Gilmore Simms, The Forayers:
   • In an Iowa murder case two witnesses swore to seeing the defendant forty rods off draw his revolver, when it was proven that they were so near-sighted that they could not tell a pistol from a bull-pup fifteen rods away. 1889, Logansport Pharos Tribune:
   • "Gone for his two little bull-pups," said Stubbs. That was what the Parson called his silver-mounted derringers. 1875, Joaquin Miller, First Fam’lies in the Sierras:
   • 'Bust me, Blaine! you ain't a-goin' to murder this-yer young innercent ez mebbe never toted a derringer in his life, an don't know the difference atween a bowie-knife an' a bull-pup, air you?' interposed Colonel Jefferson. 1895, "Seven-up" Blaine's Conversion:
3. A firearm configuration in which the trigger is located forward of the magazine and breech, as opposed to a conventional configuration in which the trigger is located rear of the magazine and breech.

Forms