bulldozer

noun

bull·​doz·​er ˈbu̇l-ˌdō-zər 

 also  ˈbəl-

1

: one that bulldozes

2

: a tractor-driven machine usually having a broad horizontal blade for moving earth

Examples of bulldozer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Become a Subscriber Some years ago, just outside the town walls, workmen at a construction site were operating a bulldozer when one of them spotted bones sticking up through the disturbed earth. —Ross Andersen, The Atlantic, 13 Nov. 2023

Israel Defense Forces via AP Images from the satellite company Planet Labs show where tanks and armored bulldozers breached the security fence around Gaza in multiple locations, their tracks snaking through terrain pockmarked by the artillery and rocket fire of the past three weeks. —Alexander Smith, NBC News, 3 Nov. 2023

The Israeli military released photos and video said to show tanks and armored bulldozers operating in Gaza as its ground offensive against Hamas in the enclave intensified. —WSJ, 30 Oct. 2023

Israeli tanks and military bulldozers have entered the territory. —Ilan Ben Zion, Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2023

That was followed by yet another incursion involving bulldozers, drones, snipers, dozens of troops and airstrikes. —Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2023

Firefighters now use their bulldozers, meant to forge firebreaks, to churn up dirt instead, getting three or five or seven feet below the surface to expose the underground fire and fight it there. —David Wallace-Wells, New York Times, 24 Oct. 2023

As the Israeli army has stepped up its counteroffensive into the Gaza Strip, questions remain on how the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas was able to use bulldozers, hang gliders and motorbikes to conduct the largest attack in 50 years against the most powerful military in the Middle East. —Liam Collins, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2023

Images from the initial attack show a bulldozer being used to tear down a fence that separates Gaza from Israel. —Isabelle Chapman, CNN, 13 Oct. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1876, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

bulldozer

noun

bull·​doz·​er ˈbu̇l-ˌdō-zər 

: a piece of earth-moving equipment that rides on tracks and has a broad blade for pushing (as in clearing land of trees)