bevy

[bev-ee]

See more synonyms for bevy on Thesaurus.com

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

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for bevy

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

Examples from the Web for bevy

Contemporary Examples of bevy

Clooney has been photographed through the hedges with a bevy of young women since he bought the place in 2001.
Venice Wedding Bells for George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin?
Barbie Latza Nadeau
June 10, 2014
From 1998 to 2006, Valderrama's role on the beloved sitcom also granted him access to a bevy of available starlets.
Why Women Want Hollywood Lothario Wilmer Valderrama
Amy Zimmerman
April 9, 2014
Liesl Schillinger to the rescue with a bevy of words that might help you make sense of it all.
A Lexical Life Raft for the Government Shutdown
Liesl Schillinger
October 16, 2013
There will be a bevy of live-blogs on sites like Gizmodo, CNET, and The Verge.
Apple Reveals New iPhone Tuesday
Brian Ries
September 9, 2013
A video of him dancing, Las Vegas style, with a bevy of showgirls has fast dominated the Jewish blogosphere.
The Bar Mitzvah Boy Who Went Viral
Mira Sucharov
August 16, 2013

Historical Examples of bevy

No bevy of ladies, no merry parties, no pageants worthy of the name.
The Little Manx Nation - 1891
Hall Caine
At that they laughed, and said they must choose him a bevy of fair women.
Cyropaedia
Xenophon
The two Kit had pointed out were, as well as we could judge, the fairest of the bevy.
Left on Labrador
Charles Asbury Stephens
There was a bevy of girls about her and they all talked at once.
The Girls at Mount Morris
Amanda Minnie Douglas
They scuttled into the nearest seats at hand like a bevy of startled partridges.
Marjorie Dean
Pauline Lester

British Dictionary definitions for bevy

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 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.