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 'bull-doze' 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. There 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.]
2. A pistol.
1881. Sat. Review, July 9, p. 40, col. 2. A Californian bull-doser is a pistol which carries a bullet heavy enough to destroy human life with certainty.
Bullet. To give the bullet, verbal phr. (common).—To discharge an employé. Cf., To give the bag, sense 2, under Bag, and Sack. [Possibly a punning allusion to the word 'discharge.'] The term is variously used. To shake the bullet at anyone, is to threaten with 'the sack,' but not to give actual notice to leave. To get the bullet is to get notice, while to get the instant bullet is to be discharged upon the spot.
1841. Savage, Dict. of Art of Printing. A workman was said to have got the bullet when he was discharged instanter—without the customary notice on either side.
1872. Chamb. Jour., March 9, p. 147. When a fellow gets the bullet from his work, he mostly has a spell at cab-driving.
