Wiktionary

bullseye

See also: bull's-eye and bull's eye

English edit

 
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A window made with many bullseyes.

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From bull's +‎ eye. May have come from the practice of English archers shooting an arrow through the eye socket of a bull's skull as a test of skill. The connection to philately comes from the shape of the key plate or vignette.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

bullseye (plural bullseyes)

  1. (military, firearms) The centre of a target, inside the inner and magpie.
  2. A shot which hits the centre of a target.
  3. (darts) The two central rings on a dartboard.
  4. A hard striped peppermint-flavoured boiled sweet.
  5. (nautical, obsolete) Thick glass set into the side of a ship to let in light.
    Synonym: porthole
  6. A hand-cancelled postmark issued by a counter clerk at a post office, typically done on a receipt for proof of mailing.
  7. The central part of a crown glass disk, with concentric ripple effect.
  8. A convex glass lens which is placed in front of a lamp to concentrate the light so as to make it more conspicuous as a signal; also the lantern itself.
    • 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of his Natural Life, Penguin, published 2009, page 45:
      [I]nstead of the six pair of feet which should have protruded therefrom, the gleam of the bull's-eye showed but four.
    • 1890, Oscar Wilde, chapter XII, in The Picture of Dorian Gray:
      He put on his fur coat and hat and went out into the hall. There he paused, hearing the slow heavy tread of the policeman on the pavement outside and seeing the flash of the bull's-eye reflected in the window.
  9. (military, by extension) A commonly-known reference point used when indicating the location or direction of something.
  10. (architecture) An oculus.
  11. (UK, slang) A £50 banknote.
  12. (philately, informal) Any of the first postage stamps produced in Brazil from 1843.

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

  • → German: Bullauge (calque)
  • → Esperanto: bovokulo (calque)

Translations edit

Interjection edit

bullseye

  1. A cry when someone hits the bullseye of a target.
  2. (by extension) A response to a totally accurate statement.
    —Did John steal the petty cash? —Bullseye.

Translations edit

See also edit

References edit

  • (philately): Douglas and Mary Patrick, The Musson Stamp Dictionary, Toronto, Musson Book Company, 1972.
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