any of several large oscine birds of the genus Corvus, of the family Corvidae, having a long, stout bill, lustrous black plumage, and a wedge-shaped tail, as the common C. brachyrhynchos, of North America.
any of several other birds of the family Corvidae.
any of various similar birds of other families.
Astronomy. Crow, the constellation Corvus.
have a crow to pick / pluck with someone, to have a reason to disagree or argue with someone.
eat crow, to be forced to admit to having made a mistake, as by retracting an emphatic statement; suffer humiliation.
His prediction was completely wrong, and he had to eat crow.
as the crow flies, in a straight line; by the most direct route.
The next town is thirty miles from here, as the crow flies.
the characteristic cry of a rooster.
an inarticulate cry of pleasure.
a member of a Siouan people of eastern Montana.
a Siouan language closely related to Hidatsa.
any large gregarious songbird of the genus Corvus, esp C. corone (the carrion crow) of Europe and Asia: family Corvidae . Other species are the raven, rook, and jackdaw and all have a heavy bill, glossy black plumage, and rounded wings See also carrion crow
any of various other corvine birds, such as the jay, magpie, and nutcracker
any of various similar birds of other families
offensive an old or ugly woman
short for crowbar
as directly as possible
informal to be forced to do something humiliating
(past tense crowed or crew) to utter a shrill squawking sound, as a cock
(often foll by over) to boast one's superiority
(esp of babies) to utter cries of pleasure
a member of a Native American people living in E Montana
the language of this people, belonging to the Siouan family
First recorded before 900; Middle English crowe, Old English crāwe, crāwa; cognate with Old High German krāwa; akin to Dutch kraai, German Krähe
First recorded before 1000; Middle English crouen, crowen, Old English crāwan; cognate with Dutch kraaien, German krähen; see crow 1
1795–1805; translation of North American French ( gens des ) Corbeaux Raven (people), literal translation of Crow apsá˙loke a Crow Indian
A crow is a large, intelligent, black bird with a loud call. Farmers and gardeners set up "scarecrows" to keep crows away from their seeds and crops. A crow is glossy and dark, a close relation of the raven, and a large group of crows is known as a murder. When a crow caws, you can also say it crows — and another way to crow is to call out with satisfaction about something: "I'm so proud of the award I just want to crow about it all day long!" The Old English root of crow is crawe, which imitates the sound a crow makes.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Despite his age, the pensioner is also partial to a bit of Pilates, and recently mastered the "crow" pose.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
Most microraptors were quite small, with some species reaching only about the size of a crow.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026
Both species make tools for foraging—the crow makes 15 separate ones—but chimps also use tools to scratch or clean their bodies and to threaten others.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
She showed off a female crow, Varia, who can say her own name.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
Since the crow did not object, Taran gently stirred the feathers around its neck and ran a finger under the bird’s sharp and gleaming beak.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
These explored difficult aspects of American history — including slavery and Jim Crow — but also touched on more personal themes of family, memory, magic and spirituality.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
The Jim Crow Era ushered in a new kind of slavery but eventually galvanized Congress to establish some of its most impactful legislation, in the VRA and the Civil Rights Act.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Appeared in the July 25, 2026, print edition as 'Jim Crow, Title IX and the Facts of Life'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Kit Tricks, whose 25-year-old sibling Crow Walt Tricks who is on trial, told the BBC Crow was alone in a cell for 22 hours a day.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
By 1945, a growing number of whites in the North had concluded that the Jim Crow system would have to be modified, if not entirely overthrown.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Her life is saved by one of the crows that she has befriended.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
“The Wailing” somehow added ghosts, demon-possessed children and inky black crows to the mix with a near-crazed sense of showmanship.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2026
There is a chance the crisis widens, its unknowables blooming into view, the crows coming home to roost.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2026
Birds, from pigeons and crows to the more rare roseate spoonbill, were the inspiration.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026
Even the same crows perched on the fence near the livestock pens.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
For 115 days, captain Mohammad Shafiqul Islam was stranded on the high seas of the Gulf, watching missiles light up the night sky and rationing food and water for his crew.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
She also wanted to move back home to Kent, but was worried about how she'd get on the housing ladder on her cabin crew salary.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
This summer, she launched the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation, a mental health initiative to support groups including the crew and performers on her current tour.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
They hired a crew to jackhammer away much of the concrete and replace it with crushed black lava rock from C&M Topsoil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
One crew member spoke an Inuit language and acted as translator.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
“I don’t think that I will ever make a serious mistake on the stock market for the rest of my life,” crowed Granville.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
“This property has it all,” the listing crowed.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 2, 2026
"So much for being isolated," crowed the tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets earlier this week.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2025
Co-host Charlie Kirk crowed that “every hand of 7,000 people” went up after he asked the crowd if they cared.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2025
“That’s my girl,” Milton crowed on the way home.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
But the deal he’s now crowing about ensures only that the U.S and Iran will talk about new nuclear limits.
From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2026
It was first to publicly announce an end to the exchange with Israel and avoided crowing about the downing of the Apache as it had when other American aircraft were shot down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
Gen. Pam Bondi tried to deflect questions about her handling of the Jeffrey Epstein records by crowing about it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
While crowing about its Pentagon projects, IonQ hasn’t highlighted that the majority of them weren’t funded in the last two federal budgets, Wolfpack says.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
Said the great soldier then: “Rejoice inwardly. No crowing aloud, old woman. To glory over slain men is no piety. Destiny and the gods’ will vanquished these, and their own hardness.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
