bully:
1. Or: bullie , a 16 th century term of endearment and familiarity for a sweetheart .Etymology: From the Dutch bul or boel, a lover of either sex .
2. From the 17 th century onward, a protector (pimp); originally the strongarm in a brothel and the supposed husband to one of its whores. A precursor of the modern day bouncer or bruiser . Defined by Grose in his Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811): ' A bully to a bawdy-house; one who is kept in pay, to oblige the frequenters of the house to submit to the impositions of the mother-abbess , or bawd ; and who also sometimes pretends to be the husband of one of the ladies, and under that pretence extorts money from greenhorns, or ignorant young men, whom he finds her with .'
See also: badger-game .
3. Currently, a person of either sex , more often a male, who uses strength or power to coerce, persecute and/or oppress others physically or morally by fear and threat of superior force.
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