beak

American  

[beek] / bik /

noun

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

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

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

Standing about 25 inches tall, it likely had a toothless beak, large eye sockets, and hollow bones.

From Science Daily • Apr. 23, 2026

With a razor-sharp banana for a beak and a wingspan surpassing 6 feet, there aren’t many flying things on this continent that can top it.

From Slate • Feb. 21, 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

Bedecked with emerald green feathers and a rose-red beak, the ring-neck parakeets have become the star attraction at the Waterworks Park.

From BBC • Apr. 16, 2025

Hastily they ripped and tore with beak, claw and paw.

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

Related Words

• snout