Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US, also bul, a police officer; thus US tramp) bull buster, one who is obsessed with assaulting the police; bull-hearted, keen to offer information; fresh bull, a police officer who cannot be bribed; wise bull, a detective.

[1741		Canting Academy, or the Pedlar’s-French Dict. 114: Bailiffs Napping Bulls].
1897		J. London ‘The Road’ in Hendricks & Shepherd Jack London Reports (1970) 311–21: Attempt to translate this: – De bull snared me; got a t’ree hour blin’ [...] he (fly) (bull) (policeman) arrested me and the judge gave me three hours in which to leave town.
1905		H. Green Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 165: Them bulls is round lookin’ fur bot’ uv youse.
1910		Spokane Press (WA) 22 Sept. 7/3: ‘A bull buster’ is one who makes a practice of assaulting policemen.
1913		Lincoln (NE) State Journal 9 Mar. in DN IV:ii 119: Two weeks ago one of our detectives caught one of them (mashers) and, honest, when that ‘bul’ got through with him he was a sight.
1913–14		E. O’Neill The Web in Ten ‘Lost’ Plays (1995) 54: D’yuh think I’m a simp to be gittin’ yuh protection and keepin’ the bulls from runnin’ yuh in.
1919		Mirror (Sydney) 31 Aug. 8/1: Old-timers still remember the stirring days, or nights, when Superintendents, then Inspectors, Roche and Kelly led their ‘bulls’ against many a strongly fortified fan tan shop.
1921		N. Putnam West Broadway 47: ‘I heard a very curious thing about Westman this morning. It seems he’s disappeared.’ [...] ‘I bet the bulls are after him’.
1924		G. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 399: Bull. Police. Wise bull – detective.
1925		Dos Passos Manhattan Transfer 122: Too many bulls an detectives in this town.
1928		Eve. News (Sydney) 5 May 4/5: Policemen: demons, bulls, johns, and john hops.
1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 39: bull buster.–One with a morbid passion for assaulting the police. [Ibid.] 80: fresh bull.–An energetic policeman, or one who cannot be bribed or silenced.
1933		‘Goat’ Laven Rough Stuff 23: We went around the South End again seeing if we’re still ‘hot’ (whether any bulls were on our trail).
1941		C. Brackett & B. Wilder Ball of Fire [film script] When the bulls gave Benny a ticket, they saw Kinnick in the back of the car. Dead.
1958		Mad mag. Mar.–Apr. 30: Once upon a time there wuz t’ree bulls. Dere was dis big poppa bull who wuz a double-crossin’ dick.
1960		(con. 1950-1960) R.A. Freeman Dict. Inmate Sl. (Walla Walla, WA) 19: Bull-hearted – to be by nature, an informer; a pigeon.
1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 28: Feeling superior [...] because he knew Steve who had been killed by the bulls.
1975		E. Torres Carlito’s Way 15: Big Jeff [...] was the first bull through the door.
1989		Pileggi & Scorsese Goodfellas [film script] 86: The bulls are across the street [...] watching everything we do.
1991		(ref. to 1931) J. Breslin Damon Runyon (1992) 5: ‘Police department. You’re under arrest.’ ‘Frankie! I told you. Bulls!’.
2000		N. Barlay Crumple Zone 140: Fergal he’s orderin’ me to shift the guy outside [...] shift the body before the bulls show.
2007		W. Ellis Crooked Little Vein 178: The attending officers from homicide were a couple of old bulls of that type that I’m always comfortable dealing with.
2012		(con. 1943) G.S. Manson Coorparoo Blues [ebook] The bulls had his number – some bastard had shopped him – and he was done for if they nabbed him.
2014		R.W. Hart ‘How to Make the Perfect New York Bagel’ in ThugLit Jan. [ebook] ‘I still know a few of the bulls in this neighbborhood’.

2. a railroad security guard.

1907		J. London ‘Road-Kids and Gay-Cats’ Road 159: Salinas is on the ‘hog,’ the ‘bulls’ is ‘horstile.’.
1935		N. Algren ‘If You Must Use Profanity’ in Texas Stories (1995) 46: He’ll be walking the tops and be dressed like a ’bo, so you’ll never know by his looks he’s a bull.
1936		W.A. Gape Half a Million Tramps 317: There are many fights between railway ‘bulls’ and hoboes when the ‘bulls’ try to make arrests for ‘stealing a ride’.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 243: train bull A trailroad detective; a railroad watchman train dick A railroad detective.
1956		N. Algren Walk on the Wild Side 17: The A. & W.P. bulls made a point of putting you off at a water tank in the wilderness.
1990		(con. 1930s) M. Graham Tales of the Iron Road 3: There were frightening memories of the ‘bulls,’ the brutal, sadistic railroad police.
2000		Sun. Times Mag. 6 Feb. 22: We [...] duck down, out of sight of a ‘bull’ – a railroad security guard – who is patrolling the yard.

3. (US prison) a prison warder; thus night bull, the night guard.

1908		Hopper & Bechdolt ‘9009’ (1909) 22: Didn’t have to look out for no ‘bulls’.
1912		D. Lowrie My Life in Prison in Hamilton Men of the Und. 248: Dat’s th’ night bull.
1935		D. Lamson We Who Are About to Die 23: The bull in that tower is one of the centers of consciousness on the Condemned Row.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 36/1: Bull. [...] 3. (California prisons) A prison guard.
1966		J. Mills Panic in Needle Park (1971) 198: You remember Mickey, how he used to make you laugh with the stories about when he was in Sing Sing and he kept the bulls running around?
1967		M. Braly On the Yard (2002) 53: Other night bulls sit out in the towers [...] They sip black coffee, read girlie magazines, or watch the moonlight.
1977		E. Bunker Animal Factory 36: What about [...] the bull they killed in the hospital?
1986		J. Ellroy Silent Terror 67: The deupty sheriffs who served as jailers were ‘bulls.’.
1999		E. Bunker Mr Blue 131: The tank trusty came out of the first cell and headed down the run. ‘Hey, Bunk, you better go. That bull is an asshole.’.
2000		Other Side of the Wall: Prisoner’s Dict. July 🌐 Bull: Guard.

4. (US) a detective.

1916		‘Thieves’ Sl.’ Toronto Star 19 Jan. 2/5: DETECTIVE Bull, dick, Mr Richard.
1928		J. Callahan Man’s Grim Justice 65: I was determined to wreck a few ‘bulls’ (cops or detectives).
1930		E.H. Lavine Third Degree (1931) 177: Detectives and patrolmen usually hate each other, and only on rare occasions will the cop [...] offer any information or assistance to the ‘bull’ or ‘dick’.
1932		Sun. Mail (Brisbane) 13 Nov. 20/8: The watch house is the ‘can;’ detectives are ‘demons’ and plain-clothesmen are ‘bulls’.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 36/1: Bull. 1. A detective.
1986		C. Stroud Close Pursuit (1988) 173: She was looking for something in the detective’s face, some sign that he wasn’t a bad bull.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 8: A robbery bull named Harry Fremont.

5. in comb., a certain kind of police officer, e.g. country bull, a local, small-town officer; narcotic bull, a Federal narcotic officer; motorcycle bull, motorcycle police officer; road bull, highway patrol officer.

1914		Wash. Post 11 Nov. Misc. 3/6: The ‘hoosier with bushes and a tin’ which is a running description of a ‘country bull’ or Constable.
1938		D. Maurer ‘Argot of the Und. Narcotic Addict’ Pt 2 AS XIII:3 188/1: narcotic-bulls. Federal narcotic officers.
1947		M.H. Boulware Jive and Sl. n.p.: motorcyle bull.
1970		Current Sl. V:3 n.p.: road bull.
1980		(con. 1940s–60s) H. Huncke ‘Elsie John’ in Eve. Sun Turned Crimson (1998) 95: A friend of mine called John who was later shot to death by narcotics bulls while making a junk delivery.