homing pigeon

[ hoh-ming pij-uhn ]

noun
  1. any pigeon used to carry messages and equipped by training and breeding to fly home, sometimes from great distances.

Origin of homing pigeon

1
First recorded in 1885–90

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use homing pigeon in a sentence

  • She knew not what or whom she sought; there was just this blind unerring instinct in her soul, the instinct of the homing pigeon.

    Arundel | Edward Frederic Benson
  • The ordinary homing pigeon is best adapted for the purpose, being an inexpensive purchase.

    Poachers and Poaching | John Watson
  • The FW's dropped in behind, unable to head him off, but the Me's came on like falcons trapping a homing pigeon.

  • And always, whether he walked in reason or in delirium, his course held eastward, straight as a homing pigeon for its loft.

    Nicanor - Teller of Tales | C. Bryson Taylor
  • There is a wonderful type of woman, however, who goes as straight to the man she loves as a homing pigeon to its loft.

British Dictionary definitions for homing pigeon

homing pigeon

noun
  1. any breed of pigeon developed for its homing instinct, used for carrying messages or for racing: Also called: homer

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012