bird

[ burd ]

See synonyms for bird on Thesaurus.com

noun

any warm-blooded vertebrate of the class Aves, having a body covered with feathers, forelimbs modified into wings, scaly legs, a beak, and no teeth, and bearing young in a hard-shelled egg.
a fowl or game bird.

Sports.
- clay pigeon.
- a shuttlecock.
Slang. a person, especially one having some peculiarity: He's a queer bird.
Informal. an aircraft, spacecraft, or guided missile.
Cooking. a thin piece of meat, poultry, or fish rolled around a stuffing and braised: veal birds.
Southern U.S. (in hunting) a bobwhite.
Chiefly British Slang. a girl or young woman.
Archaic. the young of any fowl.
the bird, Slang.
- disapproval, as of a performance, by hissing, booing, etc.: He got the bird when he came out on stage.
- scoffing or ridicule: He was trying to be serious, but we all gave him the bird.
- an obscene gesture of contempt made by raising the middle finger.

verb (used without object)

to catch or shoot birds.
to bird-watch.

Idioms about bird

a little bird, Informal. a secret source of information: A little bird told me that today is your birthday.
bird in the hand, a thing possessed in fact as opposed to a thing about which one speculates: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.: Also bird in hand.

birds of a feather, people with interests, opinions, or backgrounds in common: Birds of a feather flock together.
eat like a bird, to eat sparingly: She couldn't understand why she failed to lose weight when she was, as she said, eating like a bird.
for the birds, Slang. useless or worthless; not to be taken seriously: Their opinions on art are for the birds. That pep rally is for the birds.
kill two birds with one stone, to achieve two aims with a single effort: She killed two birds with one stone by shopping and visiting the museum on the same trip.
the birds and the bees, basic information about sex and reproduction: It was time to talk to the boy about the birds and the bees.

Origin of bird

First recorded before 900; Middle English byrd, bryd, Old English brid(d) (Northumbrian dialect bird ) “young bird, chick”

Other words from bird

birdless, adjective

Words Nearby bird

Other definitions for Bird (2 of 2)

Bird

[ burd ]

noun

Larry, born 1956, U.S. basketball player.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bird in a sentence

During courtship and even while mating, the birds pull off a similar feat, mimicking the calls and wingbeat noises of many bird species at once, a new study shows.
A single male lyrebird can mimic the sound of an entire flock | Jake Buehler | February 25, 2021 | Science News
The results strongly suggest that naked mole-rats learn their chirp dialects, he says — much as do people, dolphins and some birds.
Unique dialects help naked mole-rats tell friends from foes | Jonathan Lambert | February 24, 2021 | Science News For Students
Descended from birds, the three-eyed, feather-covered creatures lived on a frigid planet with a methane-based atmosphere and gravity 11 times stronger than that on Earth, which, according to 2951 documentation, was now a planet called “Terra.”
Extraterrestrial engineering | Katie McLean | February 24, 2021 | MIT Technology Review
Both farms were put in isolation amid fears of the virus spreading to dogs, cats, cattle and even birds.
Mink farmers are skipping to the front of the vaccine line — for an important reason | Dan Simmons | February 19, 2021 | Washington Post
Members, who are grouped by their immediate neighborhoods, use the app to report bird sightings and alert others about missing pets.
D.C.’s 911 center saw a spike in suspicious-activity calls after Capitol riot | Fredrick Kunkle | February 19, 2021 | Washington Post

It would be like if after the 40th pipe in Flappy bird was a scarecrow.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art | Alec Kubas-Meyer | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
While the chicken today might be the least exotic bird one can think of, it was once a gift that wowed kings.
The History of the Chicken: How This Humble Bird Saved Humanity | William O’Connor | December 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Exactly when the transition to modern domestic creature took place, for a bird that is wild to this day, is controversial.
The History of the Chicken: How This Humble Bird Saved Humanity | William O’Connor | December 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Mistletoes on mesquite trees in central Mexico have been linked to a greater abundance of tropical bird species.
Mistletoe is the Vampire of Plants | Helen Thompson | December 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
He really believed that enumerating the bird population gave understanding.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days | David Freeman | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Fourteen genera, representing about 19 species, of Mallophaga are reported for 20 different species of bird hosts.
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula | Erwin E. Klaas
The grass had a delightful fragrance, like new-mown hay, and was neatly wound around the tunnel, like the inside of a bird's-nest.
Davy and The Goblin | Charles E. Carryl
Many of his bird neighbors,p. 31 for instance, liked the same things to eat that he did.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole | Arthur Scott Bailey
Although the bird people didn't know it, he was anxious to reach his grandchildren.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole | Arthur Scott Bailey
And then Jolly Robin would feel ashamed that he had even thought of being so cruel to an infant bird, even if he was a Cowbird.
The Tale of Grandfather Mole | Arthur Scott Bailey

British Dictionary definitions for bird (1 of 2)

bird

/ (bɜːd) /

noun

any warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrate of the class Aves, characterized by a body covering of feathers and forelimbs modified as wings. Birds vary in size between the ostrich and the humming bird: Related adjectives: avian, ornithic
informal a person (usually preceded by a qualifying adjective, as in the phrases rare bird, odd bird, clever bird)

slang, mainly British a girl or young woman, esp one's girlfriend
slang prison or a term in prison (esp in the phrase do bird; shortened from birdlime, rhyming slang for time)
a bird in the hand something definite or certain
the bird has flown informal the person in question has fled or escaped
the birds and the bees euphemistic, or jocular sex and sexual reproduction
birds of a feather people with the same characteristics, ideas, interests, etc
get the bird informal
- to be fired or dismissed
- (esp of a public performer) to be hissed at, booed, or derided
give someone the bird informal to tell someone rudely to depart; scoff at; hiss
kill two birds with one stone to accomplish two things with one action
like a bird without resistance or difficulty
a little bird a (supposedly) unknown informant: a little bird told me it was your birthday
for the birds or strictly for the birds informal deserving of disdain or contempt; not important

Origin of bird

Old English bridd, of unknown origin

Derived forms of bird

birdlike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for Bird (2 of 2)

Bird

/ (bɜːd) /

noun

nickname of (Charlie) Parker

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

Scientific definitions for bird

bird

[ bûrd ]

Any of numerous warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals of the class Aves. Birds have wings for forelimbs, a body covered with feathers, a hard bill covering the jaw, and a four-chambered heart.

a closer look

It is generally believed that birds are descended from dinosaurs and probably evolved from them during the Jurassic Period. While most paleontologists believe that birds evolved from a small dinosaur called the theropod, which in turn evolved from the thecodont, a reptile from the Triassic Period, other paleontologists believe that birds and dinosaurs both evolved from the thecodont. There are some who even consider the bird to be an actual dinosaur. According to this view, the bird is an avian dinosaur, and the older dinosaur a nonavian dinosaur. Although there are variations of thought on the exact evolution of birds, the similarities between birds and dinosaurs are striking and undeniable. Small meat-eating dinosaurs and primitive birds share about twenty characteristics that neither group shares with any other kind of animal; these include tubular bones, the position of the pelvis, the shape of the shoulder blades, a wishbone-shaped collarbone, and the structure of the eggs. Dinosaurs had scales, and birds have modified scales-their feathers-and scaly feet. Some dinosaurs also may have had feathers; a recently discovered fossil of a small dinosaur indicates that it had a featherlike covering. In fact, some primitive fossil birds and small meat-eating dinosaurs are so similar that it is difficult to tell them apart based on their skeletons alone.

Other Idioms and Phrases with bird

bird

In addition to the idioms beginning with bird

bird has flown, the
bird in the hand
bird of passage
birds and the bees, the
birds of a feather (flock together)

also see:

catbird seat
early bird catches the worm
eat like a bird
for the birds
free as a bird
kill two birds with one stone
little bird told me
naked as a jaybird
rare bird

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