macaw

American  

[muh-kaw] / məˈkɔ /

noun

macaws plural

1. any of various large, long-tailed parrots of tropical and subtropical America, noted for their brilliant plumage and distinctive light-colored facial patches: of the six macaw genera, Ara includes the most familiar and greatest number of species, while Cyanopsitta has just one species, C. spixii Spix's macaw, a small, blue macaw, now classified as possibly extinct in the wild.

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macaw British  

/ məˈkɔː /

noun

1. any large tropical American parrot of the genera Ara and Anodorhynchus, having a long tail and brilliant plumage

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• macaws
  plural

Etymology

Origin of macaw

First recorded in 1620–30; from Portuguese macao, macau, probably from macaúba from Tupi macahuba, equivalent to maca “palm” + ybá “tree”

Example Sentences

In North America, archaeologists have carbon-dated Scarlet Macaw bones found in New Mexico's Chaco Canyon—hundreds of miles northwest of the parrots' Central American range—to the 10th century C.E.

From Scientific American • Jun. 20, 2023

Republic may also roll out its latest collaboration: a chocolate kolache developed with Harper Macaw, the D.C. chocolatier that is simultaneously making sweets and saving rainforests.

From Washington Post • May 18, 2016

Mr. and Mrs. Macaw: Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway supply the voices of the computer-animated lovebirds in the 2014 sequel "Rio 2."

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 26, 2014

Maybe Spix's Macaw is doomed to join them ere long.

From The Guardian • Apr. 11, 2011

But instead, there were four gigantic figures bearing down upon him—the bear with his fangs showing, the Macaw fiercely flapping his wings, the Panda with his fur on end, the Dolphin thrusting out her snout.

From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers