The eye of a bull (cf. F. œil de bœuf); hence I. Of glass.
1. A boss of glass, or the central protuberance formed in making a sheet of blown glass. Hence Bull’s-eyed ppl. a., containing a bull’s-eye.
1832. Babbage, Econ. Manuf., iv. (ed. 2), 36. The centre [of a sheet of glass] presents the appearance of a thick boss or prominence, called the ‘Bull’s-eye.’
1863. Reader, 28 Nov., 624. A window of small panes with the bull’s-eyes in them.
1862. Sala, Ship-Chand., 46 (L.). Another window, with dingy bull’s-eyed panes.
1878. Besant & Rice, Chaplain of Fl., iv. 34. Every other pane being those bull’s-eye panes.
2. Naut. A hemispherical piece or thick disc of glass inserted in the side or deck of a ship, or elsewhere, to light the interior.
1825. H. Gascoigne, Nav. Fame, 64. Here a Bulls-eye gives a feeble light.
1843. [G. P. R. James], Commissioner: or De Lunatico Inq., 342. It [a ‘bull’s eye’] is a thick, green, half sphere of ground glass.
1882. Nares, Seamanship (ed. 6), 96. A light room outside, with a bull’s-eye between it and the magazine.
3. A lens, hemispherical or plano-convex.
1839–47. Todd, Cycl. Anat. & Phys., III. 354/1. The condenser … should be a bull’s eye or hemispherical lens.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 258/1. The condensers in ordinary use are, The common ‘bull’s-eye’ or plano-convex.
4. A glass of similar shape inserted in the side of a lantern; the lantern itself; also attrib.
1851. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, I. 25. 2 or 3 Policemen, with their Bull’s-eyes and … truncheons speedily restored order.
1853. Herschel, Pop. Lect. Sc., VI. vi. (1873), 224. In a thick fog the bull’s-eye of a lanthorn seems to throw out a broad diverging luminous cone.
1861. C. J. Andersson, Okavango River, xxv. 264. We then tried, bull’s-eye lanthorn in hand, to obtain a glimpse of his retreating spoor.
1883. C. Reade, in Harper’s Mag., July, 204/1. One [thief] … was dazzled again with opening bull’s-eyes, and captured like a lamb.
II. A circular hole, or an object containing one.
5. Naut. Also Bull’s eye cringle (see quots.).
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1789), Bull’s-eye, a small pulley in the form of a ring, having a rope round the outer edge … and a … hole in the middle for another rope to slide in.
1833. Marryat, P. Simple, vi. Pass that brace through the bull’s eye.
1860. Merc. Mar. Mag., VII. 113. A leach-line is … carried … through a bull’s-eye.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Bull’s-eye cringle, a piece of wood in the form of a ring, which answers the purpose of an iron thimble; it is seldom used by English seamen, and then only for the fore and main bowline-bridles.
6. Arch. A small circular opening or window.
1865. Athenæum, No. 1978. 412/3. The plate-tracery, or bull’s-eyes, of the transept ends.
1875. Gwilt, Archit., Gloss., Bull’s eye, any small circular aperture for the admission of light or air.
III. Other uses.
7. The center of a target.
1833. Regul. Instr. Cavalry, I. 32. A bull’s eye of eight inches diameter.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, 256. This is wide of the bull’s-eye.
1860. G. H. K., Vacation Tour, 121. The house … stands clear and white on the brown moor, like a target, with a black window for a bull’s-eye.
8. A circular ornament of gold lace.
1879. Uniform Reg., in Navy List, July (1882), 497/1. Gold lace, to form bull’s eyes at the bottom of each back seam.
9. A sweetmeat so called from its globular shape.
1825. Hone, Every-day Bk., I. 51. Hard-bake, brandy-balls, and bulls’-eyes.
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, I. iii. Where huge bull’s-eyes, and unctuous toffy might be procured.
10. Naut. ‘A little dark cloud, reddish in the middle, chiefly appearing about the Cape of Good Hope’ (Chambers, Cycl. Supp., 1753), supposed to portend a storm; hence the storm itself.
1849. D. P. Thomson, Meteorol., 406 (L.). The ox-eye or bull’s-eye is a wind similar to the tornado.
11. slang. A crown-piece. (Cf. BULL sb.1 7.)
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew.
1714. in Mem. J. Hall, 11. Bull’s-Eye, a Crown.
1725. New Cant. Dict.
12. A hole in cheese, the result of imperfect manufacture. dial.
1879. Miss Jackson, Shropsh. Word-bk., s.v., I dunna like this cheese, it’s got too many bulls’ eyes in for me.
