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Mar 29, 2006
This week's theme
Words related to archery

This week's words
parthian shot
fletcher
bull's-eye
toxophilite
best gold

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

bull's-eye

(bulz eye) Pronunciation Sound Clip RealAudio

noun:
1. The center of a target.
2. A direct hit.
3. A convex lens or a lantern with such a lens in it.

[Why bull's eye? Why not a cat's eye or a dog's eye? Nobody knows. Perhaps it's an indication of the earlier agro-economy and the importance of bovine animals in it. It was probably suggested by the similarity of a bull's round eye with that of a target.]

"For the first time, there are four debates and for every one of them, the three opposition leaders will be looking at Mr. Martin as a man with a bull's-eye on his forehead."
Greg McArthur; On Deck; Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada); Dec 2, 2005.

See more usage examples of bull's eye in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

X-Bonus

Tell all the Truth but tell it slant-- / The Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind. -Emily Dickinson, poet (1830-1886)

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