vulture

American  

[vuhl-cher] / ˈvʌl tʃər /

noun

• vultures
  plural

1. any of several large, primarily carrion-eating Old World birds of prey of the family Accipitridae, often having a naked head and less powerful feet than those of the related hawks and eagles.

2. any of several superficially similar New World birds of the family Cathartidae, as the turkey vulture.

3. a person or thing that preys, especially greedily or unscrupulously.

   That vulture would sell out his best friend.

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vulture British  

/ ˈvʌltʃə /

noun

1. any of various very large diurnal birds of prey of the genera Neophron, Gyps, Gypaetus, etc, of Africa, Asia, and warm parts of Europe, typically having broad wings and soaring flight and feeding on carrion: family Accipitridae (hawks) See also griffon 1 lammergeier

2. any similar bird of the family Cathartidae of North, Central, and South America See also condor turkey buzzard

3. a person or thing that preys greedily and ruthlessly on others, esp the helpless

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vulture-like
  adjective
• vulturelike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vultures
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vulture

1325–75; Middle English < Latin vultur

Compare meaning

How does vulture compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• condor vs. vulture
• vulture vs. turkey vulture

Explanation

A vulture is a type of bird — with a bald head and neck — that feeds on dead animals. One of the most fearsome birds is the vulture: this bird of prey feeds on almost nothing but dead flesh. Unlike other animals that hunt, vultures go after animals that were killed by other animals or died naturally. Vultures are scavengers looking for corpses. And because of their morbid tastes, vultures are often associated with horror movies and scenes of carnage.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vulture vultures

In a 2024 exposé on Bowlero’s rise, Amos Barshad introduced a now-familiar category of villain — the private-equity vulture — as more than the average mercenary buying up distressed properties and selling off their parts.

From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026

As Scott Weidensaul tells us, poisoning has led to seven of Africa’s 10 vulture species being listed as endangered or critically endangered, with populations down as much as 97%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

I finally looked up the species: It was a gallinazo, also known as a black vulture, and as much as we might ignore them, they’d been circling the whole time.

From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026

Meanwhile the narrator’s financially devious husband appears as a vulture with “the brooding eye, the blood-tipped beak, the flabby folds of flesh” of a bird of prey.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025

The school sprawls atop Serra’s eastern cliffs like a colossal vulture, a jumble of austere buildings enclosed by a black granite wall.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

And so people associated with Turning Point USA and the Daily Wire continue to decry Owens and other prominent conspiracy-theory content creators as vultures.

From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2026

"If we lose vultures we lose a vital ecological role, and that has devastating effects," Jimmy says.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

He and his team are already preparing breeding programmes for the critically endangered African white-backed vultures and endangered African grey crowned cranes.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

The vultures have their supporters in town, though most residents oppose feeding them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026

I looked around, half expecting to see vultures perched on the lampposts.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda