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bull's-eye or bull's eye also bulls·eye (blzī′)
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n.
1.
a. The small central circle on a target.
b. A shot that hits this circle.
2.
a. A direct hit: scored a bull's-eye on the window with a snowball.
b. The precise accomplishment of a goal or purpose: “Most marketing these days .... hits the bull's-eye for laughs, razzle-dazzle, and cleverness” (Jay Conrad Levinson).
3. A thick, circular piece of glass set, as in a roof or ship's deck, to admit light.
4. A circular opening or window.
5.
a. A plano-convex lens used to concentrate light.
b. A lantern or lamp having such a lens.
6. A piece of round hard candy.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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