See take the bull by the horns in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for take the bull by the horns meaning in English (6.2kB)
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "takes the bull by the horns",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "taking the bull by the horns",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "took the bull by the horns",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "taken the bull by the horns",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "take<,,took,taken> the bull by the horns"
},
"expansion": "take the bull by the horns (third-person singular simple present takes the bull by the horns, present participle taking the bull by the horns, simple past took the bull by the horns, past participle taken the bull by the horns)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1828 May, Sir Walter Scott, The Journal of Sir Walter Scott",
"text": "Wordsworth has a system which disposes him to take the bull by the horns and offend public taste.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1912, Arthur Quiller-Couch, chapter 4, in Hocken and Hunken",
"text": "\"Then why couldn' ye take the bull by the horns an' march in by the front door?\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1920, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 4, in The Coming of Bill",
"text": "[H]e was ready to take the bull by the horns and pay for his meal himself.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1950 December 4, “The Nation: Between Friends”, in Time",
"text": "In Korea General MacArthur took the bull by the horns and threw seven divisions into an all-out drive to clear North Korea.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2002 May 16, Selena Roberts, “Tennis: Healthy Morariu Expects to Return to Court”, in New York Times, retrieved 2011-08-02",
"text": "\"Should I tell her? Should I send someone else?\" he said yesterday. \"I took the bull by the horns. I gave her the diagnosis. It was the most difficult time of my life.\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To deal with a matter in a direct manner, especially to confront a difficulty rather than avoid it."
],
"id": "en-take_the_bull_by_the_horns-en-verb-8-B0xYiV",
"links": [
[
"deal with",
"deal with"
],
[
"direct",
"direct"
],
[
"confront",
"confront"
],
[
"difficulty",
"difficulty"
],
[
"avoid",
"avoid"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To deal with a matter in a direct manner, especially to confront a difficulty rather than avoid it."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "beard the lion in his den"
},
{
"word": "carpe diem"
},
{
"word": "seize the day"
},
{
"word": "the world is your oyster"
},
{
"word": "bit between one's teeth"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "af",
"lang": "Afrikaans",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "die bul by die horings pak"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "dǎshédǎqīcùn",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "打蛇打七寸"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "jít na to rovnou"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "popadnout býka rovnou za rohy"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "tage tyren ved hornene"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "de koe bij de hoorns vatten"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "preni la bovon per la kornoj"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "rekte alfronti problemon"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "ottaa härkää sarvista"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "prendre le taureau par les cornes"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "den Stier bei den Hörnen packen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "den Stier an den Hörnen fassen"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "prendere il toro per le corna"
},
{
"code": "mi",
"lang": "Maori",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "kua eke te waka ki te au moana"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "ta tyren ved hornene"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "ta tyren ved horna"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "złapać byka za rogi"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "encarar de frente"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "vzjatʹ byka za rogá",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "взять быка за рога́"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "coger el toro por los cuernos"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "ta tjuren vid hornen"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-take the bull by the horns.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e7/En-au-take_the_bull_by_the_horns.ogg/En-au-take_the_bull_by_the_horns.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/En-au-take_the_bull_by_the_horns.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "take the bull by the horns"
}
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "takes the bull by the horns",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "taking the bull by the horns",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "took the bull by the horns",
"tags": [
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "taken the bull by the horns",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "take<,,took,taken> the bull by the horns"
},
"expansion": "take the bull by the horns (third-person singular simple present takes the bull by the horns, present participle taking the bull by the horns, simple past took the bull by the horns, past participle taken the bull by the horns)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "beard the lion in his den"
},
{
"word": "carpe diem"
},
{
"word": "seize the day"
},
{
"word": "the world is your oyster"
},
{
"word": "bit between one's teeth"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with quotations",
"English verbs",
"Mandarin terms with non-redundant manual transliterations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1828 May, Sir Walter Scott, The Journal of Sir Walter Scott",
"text": "Wordsworth has a system which disposes him to take the bull by the horns and offend public taste.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1912, Arthur Quiller-Couch, chapter 4, in Hocken and Hunken",
"text": "\"Then why couldn' ye take the bull by the horns an' march in by the front door?\"",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1920, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 4, in The Coming of Bill",
"text": "[H]e was ready to take the bull by the horns and pay for his meal himself.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1950 December 4, “The Nation: Between Friends”, in Time",
"text": "In Korea General MacArthur took the bull by the horns and threw seven divisions into an all-out drive to clear North Korea.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2002 May 16, Selena Roberts, “Tennis: Healthy Morariu Expects to Return to Court”, in New York Times, retrieved 2011-08-02",
"text": "\"Should I tell her? Should I send someone else?\" he said yesterday. \"I took the bull by the horns. I gave her the diagnosis. It was the most difficult time of my life.\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To deal with a matter in a direct manner, especially to confront a difficulty rather than avoid it."
],
"links": [
[
"deal with",
"deal with"
],
[
"direct",
"direct"
],
[
"confront",
"confront"
],
[
"difficulty",
"difficulty"
],
[
"avoid",
"avoid"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To deal with a matter in a direct manner, especially to confront a difficulty rather than avoid it."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-take the bull by the horns.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e7/En-au-take_the_bull_by_the_horns.ogg/En-au-take_the_bull_by_the_horns.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/En-au-take_the_bull_by_the_horns.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "af",
"lang": "Afrikaans",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "die bul by die horings pak"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "dǎshédǎqīcùn",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "打蛇打七寸"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "jít na to rovnou"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "popadnout býka rovnou za rohy"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "tage tyren ved hornene"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "de koe bij de hoorns vatten"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "preni la bovon per la kornoj"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "rekte alfronti problemon"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "ottaa härkää sarvista"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "prendre le taureau par les cornes"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "den Stier bei den Hörnen packen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "den Stier an den Hörnen fassen"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "prendere il toro per le corna"
},
{
"code": "mi",
"lang": "Maori",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "kua eke te waka ki te au moana"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "ta tyren ved hornene"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "ta tyren ved horna"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "złapać byka za rogi"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "encarar de frente"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "vzjatʹ byka za rogá",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "взять быка за рога́"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "coger el toro por los cuernos"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to deal directly with a matter; to confront a difficulty",
"word": "ta tjuren vid hornen"
}
],
"word": "take the bull by the horns"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.