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Glite Dictionary
⚔️ Civil War battle 🌊 A Virginia stream
Bull Run

Bull Run

3 7.5
One of two major Civil War battles that took place near a creek in Virginia
  • proper noun
  • /bʌl rʌn/
  • US
translation icon : Batalla de Bull Run
  • Many historians consider the battles of Bull Run crucial in shaping the strategies of both the Union and Confederate armies.
  • Battle of Bull Run
  • First Bull Run
  • Second Bull Run

Examples

  • Although the final battle reports have yet to come in, nearly all accounts indicate a Union victory in yesterday's battle between the Federal army and the forces of Virginia near Bull Run.

    Blog text (9)

  • I, uh, understand you were in the Battle of Bull Run.

    Gods and Generals (2003)

  • When my teacher said "Manassas," I told her it should be called "Bull Run," that there was a first and second Bull Run, and only Yankees called it Manassas.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Meanwhile, at the Petersen Boarding House, Corporal James Tanner, who has lost both legs at the second battle of Bull Run, and is just ten days past his 21 st birthday, is about to take the first eyewitness testimony in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

    Killing Lincoln (2013)

  • The battle began early in the morning as a Union force led by Brigadier General Irvin McDowell took command of artillery stationed near Bull Run, forcing the Confederate forces to retreat towards their main encampment at Manassas.

    Blog text (9)

  • The First Battle of Bull Run took place on July 21, 1861, marking the beginning of large-scale combat in the Civil War.

  • The Second Battle of Bull Run resulted in a decisive Confederate victory over Union forces in August 1862.

Synonyms

Battle of Bull Run
vsBull Run
2 8.8

An early Civil War battle in Virginia where Confederate forces defeat Union troops

has identical meaning but uses a shorter, simpler name form

Surface Forms

Bull Run main

Morphology

Bull + run

The components 'Bull' + 'run' (with 'run' = small stream) transparently suggest a place-name for a stream, so a B1 learner would likely infer it denotes a geographic feature. However, the MWE refers specifically to historical battles named after that place, which is a conventional, encyclopedic meaning not predictable from the constituents alone, so the overall expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Bull Run refers to two battles named after the small creek where the fighting took place. People used the creek's name to talk about the clashes, so 'Bull Run' now means those Civil War battles.