Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Bullring |
BullringNoun1. A stadium where bullfights take place. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Bull fighting (Spanish tauromaquia) is a kind of spectacle whose variations are popular in Spain, Portugal, some countries in Latin America, and in the south of France. Bull-fighting goes back to ancient Rome, when many people-killing-animal events were held as a warm-up for gladiatorial sports. The event's earliest roots are probably religious.The Spanish version of the event, called a corrida de toros, begins with a procession accompanied by band music. Next, the bull enters the ring, to be tested for ferocity by the matador (toreador or torero) and banderilleros with pink and gold capes.
After a period of time, picadores on blinkered horses go past the bull and put lances into the bull's neck, further enraging and weakening the bull, and, crucially, weakening its neck muscles. The audience often objects to excessive use of the lance to tire the bull too much.
Next is a suerte de banderillas, in which three banderilleros goad the bull so they can stab the bull's shoulders with coloured, sharpened sticks.
Finally, in the suerte de matar (death act), the matador reenters the ring alone with a small red cape. Having dedicated the bull to an individual or the whole audience, he uses his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes, demonstrating his control over it. He then attempts to manoeuvre the bull into a position to stab it between the shoulders and through the heart. This often fails, and the toreador must cut the bull's spinal cord with a second sword, killing it instantly.
Very occasionally, a particularly resilient bull will be spared.
A typical bullfight will involve three matadors fighting two bulls each though, occasionally, a mano-a-mano confronts two matadors fighting three bulls each.
Trophies and prizes are awarded to matadors, mostly according to the reaction of the crowd to the fight.
The Portuguese version is conducted on horseback and does not involve injuring the bull.
The aesthetic of bullfighting, which is regarded as a deeply ingrained part of the culture and an art in the countries where it is practiced, is based on the interaction of the man and the bull. Rather than a competitive sport, the bullfight is more of a ritual which is judged by its aficionados based on artistic impression and command.
Animal rights campaigners object strongly to bullfighting on account to the slow, painful death the bull suffers, and kill bullfights are banned in most countries. "Bloodless" variations, though, are permitted and have attracted a following in California. A number of animal-rights activist groups undertake anti-bullfighting actions in Spain and other countries (see links).
However, these views are not widely understood in the countries where Spanish bullfighting is practiced; the argument is that bulls are bred for the ring, live well before they are killed, and if the bullfight went, the bulls would too. Furthermore, part of the artistic impression of a corrida is based on the "cleanliness" of the kill; prolonged suffering is regarded as part of a very poor performance, and experienced bullfighters are able to avoid it.
Spanish bullfighting is a traditionally male sport. Only recently have a very small number of women ever been toreadores, such as Cristina Sánchez. Many bullfighters have met their deaths on the horns of a bull, including one of the most celebrated of all time, Manolete.
Especially prominent bullrings are to be found at Madrid, Sevilla, and Mexico City.
External links
Mundo Taurino, a complete guide to bullfighting
Asociación para la defensa del animal, a Spanish anti-bullfighting groupSource: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Bullfighting."
Crosswords: Bullring |
| Specialty definitions using "bullring": Bull-ring. (references) |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Cape work at bullring, Matamoros, Mexico. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Colored sand advertisement, bullring, Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Bejar's bullring" by Celia Martinez Bravo Commentary: "2000| This is the oldest bullring in Spain." | "Fountain 2" by Philip Jackson Commentary: "Water falling over the fountain in the new bullring." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| "Bullring" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 50.00% of the time. "Bullring" is used about 6 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 50% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 33.33% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Noun (proper) | 16.67% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 6 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
bullring | 8 |
birmingham bullring | 5 |
bullring job | 4 |
bullring las vegas | 3 |
bullring cry | 3 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "bullring"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Arabic | حلبة مصارعة الثيران, ساحة مصارعة الثيران. (various references) | |
Czech | aréna (arena, hippodrome). (various references) | |
Dutch | arena voor stieregevechten. (various references) | |
Esperanto | taŭrobatalejo, taŭrobatala areno. (various references) | |
French | arène pour la corrida, arène. (various references) | |
German | Stierkampfarena. (various references) | |
Greek | αρένα ταυρομαχίασ. (various references) | |
Hebrew | זרת מלחמת הפרים. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 闘牛場 (a bullring). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | とうぎゅうじょう (a bullring). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ullringbay.(various references) | |
Romanian | arenã pentru lupte cu tauri. (various references) | |
Russian | арена для боя быков. (various references) | |
Spanish | plaza de toros. (various references) | |
Turkish | boğa güreşi alanı, arena (arena, circus, cirque). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "bullring": bullrings. (additional references) | |
| |
"Bullring" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Bellarmin, Bellringle, Boldrini, Bulcraig. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "b-g-i-l-l-n-r-u" | |
-1 letter: bulling, burling. | |
-2 letters: bluing, lubing, luring, ruling. | |
-3 letters: brill, bring, bruin, burin, grill, lungi, ruing, unrig. | |
-4 letters: bill, birl, blin, blur, brig, brin, bull, bung, burg, burl, burn, gill, girl, girn, glib, grin, grub, gull, iglu, ling, lung, nill, null, nurl, rill, ring, ruin, rung. | |
-5 letters: big, bin, bug, bun, bur, gib, gin, gnu, gul. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-g-i-l-l-n-r-u" | |
+1 letter: bullrings. | |
+2 letters: blurringly. | |
+3 letters: grumblingly, umbrellaing. | |
+4 letters: blunderingly, blusteringly, bullyragging, curveballing. | |
+5 letters: bloodcurdling, macroglobulin, thyroglobulin, unbelligerent. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Images: Slideshow 4. Images: Photo Album | 5. Images: Digital Art 6. Usage Frequency 7. Expressions: Internet 8. Translations: Modern | 9. Derivations 10. Anagrams 11. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
