Definition of "bully"

Besides, bullies seldom execute the threats they deal in; and men of trick and cunning are not always men of desperate resolves.

1840 September 22, Lord Palmerston, The Life of Henry John Temple, Viscount of Palmerston‎, 3rd edition, volume 2, published 1871, page 327

Mr. Fisher returned from town... he had learnt that our opponents intended to shift the scene of operations to the Chats... We understood that they had hired two bullies for the purpose of deciding the matter par voie de fait. Mr Fisher hired two of the same description, who were supposed to be more than a match for the opposition party.

1849, John McLean, Notes of a Twenty-Five Years' Service in the Hudson's Bay Territory, pages 42–3

The Proclamation Society and the Society for the Suppression of Vice were more concerned with obscene literature […] than with hands-on street battles with prostitutes and their bullies […].

2009, Dan Cruikshank, Secret History of Georgian London, Random House, page 473

What sayest thou, Bully Bottom?

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene i]

Frae Team Gut to Whitley, we' coals black an' brownFor the Amphitrite loaded, the keel had come down—But the bullies ower neet had their gobs se oft wet,That the nyem o' the ship yen an' a' did forget.

1824, Robert Gilchrist, “The Skipper's Erudition”, in A Collection of Original Local Songs‎, page 11

I kiss his dirty shoe, and from heart-string / I love the lovely bully. What is thy name?

1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene i]

I have promised to be with the sweet bully early in the morning of her important day.

1753, Samuel Richardson, “Letter 15”, in The History of Sir Charles Grandison

What! manim-an—kiss your child, man alive. That I may never, but he looks at the darlin’ as if it was a sod of turf! Throth you’re not worthy of havin’ such a bully.

1848, William Carleton, Fardorougha the Miser‎, page 16

Bradly's stomach kinked in on itself, thinking of Cora struck silly with that corpse on her hands and the copper bullying the truth out of her.

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, page 218

United States Sen. Marsha Blackburn on Thursday became the latest member of Congress to visit Taiwan defying pressure from Beijing, saying, "I will not be bullied by Communist China into turning my back on the island."

2022 August 26, Brad Lendon, “'Xi Jinping doesn't scare me': US Sen. Marsha Blackburn lands in Taiwan, vows not to be bullied by China”, in CNN‎, archived from the original on 26 August 2022‎

The Potters know their strengths and played to them perfectly here, out-muscling Bolton in midfield and bullying the visitors' back-line at every opportunity.

2011 January 15, Sam Sheringham, “Chelsea 2 -03 Blackburn Rovers”, in BBC‎

To sing a bully song I'll try, / Bully for you, bully for you, / Gay as they make them, here I am, / Bully for you, for you.

1861, Daniel Bryant, Bryant's Songs from Dixie's Land‎, page 19

She is a bully woman, not only a good mother, but a wonderful in-law

1916, The Independent, volumes 35-36, page 6

Bless thee, bully doctor!

1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, act II, scene iii

Bully! Bully! Finis coronet opus, “the end crowns all”; “may the last be the best!” By Godfrey it was delightful.

1979, Jerome Alden, Bully: An Adventure with Teddy Roosevelt, page 3