bell cow
- noun
- Jargon
:
líder
- I am not saying Richardson shouldn't be the bell cow.
Examples
-
In the meeting, Sarah was the bell cow, guiding the discussion and inspiring her colleagues.
-
She must look on herself as the bell cow; the other women were the gang.
Fiction book (2002) -
The charity event featured a famous athlete as the bell cow, attracting many attendees and donors.
-
As the team leader, Mark acted as the bell cow, setting the tone and direction for the project.
Synonyms
33
7.0
The most important person who controls a group or activity
21
4.6
A person with the most power in a group
13
8.4
A person or thing that shows future trends
8
5.3
A person who is very important in a group or company
2
7.0
A confident person who takes charge and leads a group that others follow
1
7.5
A person who is in charge of a group and makes the main decisions
1
5.5
An important person in a small group who has more power than elsewhere
1
7.7
The most important person in a group or organization
1
5.6
An important person who has a lot of power in a group
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
bell + cow
The meaning 'leader' is a metaphorical extension and not directly predictable from the literal constituents 'bell' and 'cow' for a B1 learner; knowing the words would more likely evoke an image of an animal with a bell rather than the abstract sense of prominence or leadership. There is a partial clue (a bell can mark a leader in a herd), but that cultural/figurative mapping is not universally transparent or guaranteed without prior exposure, so some inference is possible but not reliable.
Etymology
The phrase bell cow comes from farming, where a cow wore a bell and led the herd. One popular story says the bell made that cow easy to follow, so bell cow now means the main or most important person or thing in a group, 'the leader'.