bullfinch

bull·finch

1 [bool-finch]
noun
1.
a European finch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula, often kept as a pet, the male of which has a black, white, and bluish-gray back and a rosy breast.
2.
any of several related or similar birds.

Origin:
1560–70; bull1 (perhaps in sense “bull-necked”) + finch

Dictionary.com Unabridged

bull·finch

2 [bool-finch]
noun
a hedge high enough to impede mounted hunters.

Origin:
1825–35; of uncertain origin

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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00:10
Bullfinch is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Collins
World English Dictionary
bullfinch1 (ˈbʊlˌfɪntʃ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a common European finch, Pyrrhula pyrrhula: the male has a bright red throat and breast, black crown, wings, and tail, and a grey-and-white back
2.  any of various similar finches
 
[C14: see bull1, finch; probably so called from its stocky shape and thick neck]

bullfinch2 (ˈbʊlˌfɪntʃ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
(Brit) a high thick hedge too difficult for a horse and rider to jump
 
[C19: perhaps changed from the phrase bull fence]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

bullfinch
1560s, from bull (1) + finch; supposedly so called for the shape of its head and neck; cf. Fr. bouvreuil.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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