From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbullybul‧ly1 /ˈbʊli/ ●●○ noun (plural bullies) [countable] CRUELsomeone who uses their strength or power to frighten or hurt someone who is weaker Bullies are often cowards.
Examples from the Corpus
bully• He wasn't, in fact, a very nice boy, a bully and rather stupid.• Only a bully could have stood up to the bullying party bureaucracy.• Critics describe the mayor as an arrogant bully who hates to be contradicted.• Of course Hell was peopled by bullies.• A group of kids stood by and watched the school bully beat up a smaller boy.• the school bully• Big Willie was the toughest dude on the block, a bad combination of vicious clothes-taking bully and mean, gutsy fighter.• She said she had never seen the bully side of me before.• Alternatively, you can completely rearrange the decor in the tank so that the bully becomes confused.• Tom Arnold plays the grown-up bully.bullybully2 ●●○ verb (bullied, bullying, bullies) [transitive] 1 FORCE somebody TO DO somethingto threaten to hurt someone or frighten them, especially someone smaller or weaker2 to put pressure on someone in order to make them do what you wantbully somebody into (doing) something Don’t let them bully you into working on Saturdays. —bullying noun [uncountable] an attempt to tackle the problem of bullying in schools → bully off→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
bully• The court heard that the head of department would routinely bully and humiliate workers.• Just because she was the junior on the Diary team, it didn't mean that he could constantly bully her.• If you try and bully him into giving you the money he's sure to say no -- you should try and persuade him gently.• Ben didn't want to study law, but his father bullied him into it by threatening to cut off his allowance.• All he wanted was a belly-full of berries and a chance to bully the small birds.• A group of girls would bully the younger kids, and force them to give them money.• Ricky used to bully the younger kids in the neighborhood.• Don't let the salesman bully you -- it's your choice.bully somebody into (doing) something• They had pushed and pushed and bullied their way into a freedom that both scared and embarrassed them.• With rare exceptions, world champions are bullied and beaten into fighting shape on the streets.• But between 1967 and 1973, the Chagossians claim, they were tricked, bullied and cajoled into leaving the islands.• More mobile than ever before, big businesses can bully governments into relieving them of their responsibilities.• Isaac bullied his way into second, a gear not made for the speed they had accumulated.• He let his rich father bully him into studying law, which led to his present, unsatisfying Gold Card life.• So I let them bully me into taking them round.bullybully3 adjective → bully for you/him etcOrigin bully1 (1600-1700) bully “lover, someone who controls a prostitute” ((16-19 centuries)), probably from Dutch boel “lover” 