beak

American  

[beek] / bik /

noun

beaks plural

1. the bill of a bird; neb.

2. any similar horny mouthpart in other animals, as the turtle or duckbill.

3. anything beaklike or ending in a point, as the spout of a pitcher.

4. Slang. a person's nose.

5. Entomology. proboscis.

6. Botany. a narrowed or prolonged tip.

7. Nautical. (formerly) a metal or metal-sheathed projection from the bow of a warship, used to ram enemy vessels; ram; rostrum.

8. Typography. a serif on the arm of a character, as of a K.

9. Also called bird's beak.  Architecture. a pendant molding forming a drip, as on the soffit of a cornice.

10. Chiefly British Slang.

    1. a judge; magistrate.

    2. a schoolmaster.

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beak ¹ British  

/ biːkt, biːk /

noun

1. the projecting jaws of a bird, covered with a horny sheath; bill

2. any beaklike mouthpart in other animals, such as turtles

3. slang a person's nose, esp one that is large, pointed, or hooked

4. any projecting part, such as the pouring lip of a bucket

5. architect the upper surface of a cornice, which slopes out to throw off water

6. chem the part of a still or retort through which vapour passes to the condenser

7. nautical another word for ram

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beak ² British  

/ biːk /

noun

1. a Brit slang word for judge magistrate headmaster schoolmaster

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• underbeak
  noun
• beaked
  adjective
• beakless
  adjective
• beaklike
  adjective
• beaky
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• beaks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of beak

1175–1225; Middle English bec < Old French < Latin beccus < Gaulish

Explanation

When you see a bird pecking around in your backyard, it’s using its beak to probe the ground for food. A beak is the hard, pointed structure sticking out from a bird’s face. The word beak refers to the bill on a bird, which protrudes from the face and is used for eating, grooming, and pecking. You can think of it sort of like the mouth of a bird, only it’s made up of hard, horny material rather than flesh. The word beak is sometimes used informally to refer to a person’s nose, especially if the nose is large, prominent, and protruding — in other word, sort of like a bird’s beak.

Example Sentences

“The Book of Birds,” too, celebrates both word and world, presenting 49 birds “in seven groups of seven,” each chapter headed by “the wonders of Nest, Egg, Beak, Song, Feather, Flight and Migration.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026

The virus was detected in skuas at three locations: Hope Bay, Devil Island, and Beak Island.

From Science Daily • Feb. 12, 2026

I would like to relate a recent experience in Sitka, Alaska, and give a shout out to a lovely restaurant there called Beak.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 22, 2022

Beak emergence coincided with insect inclusion in the bird diet.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Beak first, a dark and secret complex, a personality disorder let loose on the world, it plunges!

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Related Words

• snout