cuckoo clock

American  

noun

1. a wall or shelf clock, often carved and decorated, that announces the hours by a sound like the call of the cuckoo, usually accompanied by the appearance of an imitation bird through a little door.

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cuckoo clock British  

noun

1. a clock in which a mechanical cuckoo pops out with a sound like a cuckoo's call when the clock strikes

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Etymology

Origin of cuckoo clock

First recorded in 1775–85

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cuckoo clock

"Switzerland has nurtured many unexpected good things -- Albert Einstein's physics, the world economy, and the cuckoo clock leap to mind -- and is again helping the world appreciate improbable people and ideas."

From Barron's ● Mar. 10, 2026

A hand-carved cuckoo clock adds a bit of humor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2025

After all, it’s not every day you find Jessica Chastain rotating on a turntable like an angry bird in a giant cuckoo clock.

From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2023

Moldea and De Niro sat at a table near the restaurant’s cuckoo clock to talk.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 14, 2020

A cuckoo clock was stopped on the wrong time, the bird out of his little brown house.

From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben

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