bevy

[bev-ee]

noun, plural bev·ies.

a group of birds, as larks or quail, or animals, as roebuck, in close association.

a large group or collection: a bevy of boisterous sailors.

Origin of bevy

1400–50; late Middle English bevey, of obscure origin

Synonyms for bevy

1. covey, flight; brood. 2. assembly, company.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bevies

gathering, assembly, crowd, cluster, flight, company, covey, collection, crew, band, troupe, party, flock, bunch, group, pack

Examples from the Web for bevies

Historical Examples of bevies

The beds and the bevies drove every higher form of art out of it.
Heartbreak House
George Bernard Shaw
After all it is not surprising that but three bevies remained of the sixty.
Our Vanishing Wild Life
William T. Hornaday
There are bevies of girls—all young, all pretty; and all, or nearly all, bubbling over with hearty and wholesome laughter.
Over the Rocky Mountains to Alaska
Charles Warren Stoddard
He saw them settle at last like quail among the stubble, curling up and crouching in groups and bevies, alert heads raised.
Lorraine
Robert W. Chambers
The crowd was pouring in from the cathedral, and bevies of priests, and scarlet choir-boys led by their fiddler.
Limbo and Other Essays
Vernon Lee

British Dictionary definitions for bevies

bevy

noun plural bevies

a flock of quails

a group, esp of girls

a group of roedeer

Word Origin for bevy

C15: of uncertain origin

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

Word Origin and History for bevies

bevy

early 15c., collective noun of quails and ladies, from Anglo-French bevée, of unknown origin. One supposed definition of the word is "a drinking bout," but this is perhaps a misprint of bever, from Old French beivre (see beverage). Still, it's possible that the original sense could be a company of birds gathered at a puddle or pool for drinking or bathing.