Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

shoot the bull

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.19 in modern English

Syllables: shoot the bull
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

1

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To chinwag; to talk idly.

Example Sentences

"1976-1977, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure I didn't get what this group therapy was all about, it seemed to me it was just a bunch of people shooting the bull."
"Shooting the bull with Benny and Elvira while Nelson skitters around out there in the lake of rooftops, selling used cars like hotcakes."

Inflected Forms

shoots the bull (present, singular) shooting the bull (participle, present) shot the bull (participle, past) shot the bull (past)

Synonyms

shoot the breeze shoot the shit throw the bull throw the bull around

Questions

What does shoot the bull mean?: To chinwag; to talk idly.

How to pronounce shoot the bull

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “shoot the bull”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “shoot the bull”.
Repeat and practice — Say “shoot the bull” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.