bulldozer

Etymology

Originally bull-dozer (1875, Louisiana, US); bulldoze + -er.

noun

1. A tractor with an attached blade for pushing earth and building debris for coarse preliminary surface grading, demolishing building structures, etc.
   The bulldozer is a caterpillar tractor on the front of which is mounted a heavy steel blade which can be moved up and down by hydraulic gear. By sheer brute force it can push down trees and hedges, remove obstructions (including light brickwork) and level and consolidate newly-tipped banks. 1943 September and October, “Railway Construction and Operation at War Department Depots”, in Railway Magazine, page 262
   Typically for the 'get-on-with-it' era, the railway and military worked like demons to restore the vital rail link. The crater was rapidly filled in and the earth tamped solid, the wreckage was removed by breakdown trains, new rails and sleepers were rushed forward by willing hands, and US Army bulldozers piled in. By 2020 on the same day, both tracks were open for traffic again where there had been a gaping pit just hours before. January 12 2022, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43
2. One who bulldozes.
3. (historical, chiefly in the plural) A member of a self-identified group of white US Southerners who colluded to influence outcomes of post-Reconstruction elections by intimidating, coercing and bullying black voters and legislators, including burning down houses and churches, flogging and murdering opponents.
4. (by extension) A bully; an overbearing individual.

verb

1. To bulldoze (demolish with a bulldozer).
2. To bulldoze (push through forcefully).
   They bulldozered through the crowd.