bullpen

noun

bull·​pen ˈbu̇l-ˌpen 

also ˈbəl-

variants or less commonly bull pen

plural bullpens also bull pens

1

: a large cell where prisoners are detained until brought into court

Commonly called the "bullpen," the court lockup is behind the courtroom and is used as a holding area for prisoners …

—Bruce A. Scruton

2

a

: a place on a baseball field where pitchers warm up before they start pitching

In the bullpen, Goose Gossage is warming up.

—Tony Scherman

b

: the relief pitchers of a baseball team

After five innings Seattle led 14-2 and, with baseball's best bullpen waiting to protect the lead should starter Aaron Sele falter …

—Sports Illustrated

3

: an open work area not divided into offices

… an alternative to the traditional combination of private offices for the brass and bullpens for the workers.

—Carl Ruff

Examples of bullpen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Those necessary steps include throwing curveballs without issue in bullpens, facing batters for the first time in live BP, sim games and eventually game action on a rehab assignment. —Meghan Montemurro, Chicago Tribune, 1 Mar. 2026

The Texas bullpen, as usual, fared well behind him. —David Eckert, Austin American Statesman, 1 Mar. 2026

The Rangers don’t currently have that kind of velocity in their bullpen. —Shawn McFarland, Dallas Morning News, 28 Feb. 2026

There was a six-inning relief appearance and several more multi-inning appearances out of the bullpen. —Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 28 Feb. 2026

Brayan Bello will get his second start of the spring, and he is expected to be followed out of the bullpen by Zack Kelly, Kyle Keller, Seth Martinez, Noah Song and Jeremy Wu-Yelland. —Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 27 Feb. 2026

My bullpens have been terrible. —Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2026

With each outing, Morgan proved more and more trustworthy to a bullpen that lost Jason Adam to a quad injury for the final month of the season. —Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Feb. 2026

He was set to pitch in Wednesday’s Cactus League game against the Seattle Mariners but was pulled back while warming up in the bullpen. —Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 26 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1809, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for bullpen

• again
• airmen
• amen
• culmen
• flagmen
• gunmen
• lawmen
• oilmen
• playpen
• schoolmen
• tegmen
• ben

Kids Definition

bull pen

noun

1

: a large cell where prisoners are held until brought into court

2

a

: a place on a baseball field where relief pitchers warm up

b

: the relief pitchers of a team