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• bird
  bird

  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.
• Bird
  Bird

  noun

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

bird

¹ American  

[burd] / bɜrd /

noun

• birds
  plural

1. 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.

2. a fowl or game bird.

3. Sports.

   1. clay pigeon.

   2. a shuttlecock.

4. Slang. a person, especially one having some peculiarity.

   He's a queer bird.

5. Informal. an aircraft, spacecraft, or guided missile.

6. Cooking. a thin piece of meat, poultry, or fish rolled around a stuffing and braised.

   veal birds.

7. Southern U.S. (in hunting) a bobwhite.

8. Chiefly British Slang. a girl or young woman.

9. Archaic. the young of any fowl.

10. Slang. the bird,

    1. disapproval, as of a performance, by hissing, booing, etc..

       He got the bird when he came out on stage.

    2. scoffing or ridicule.

       He was trying to be serious, but we all gave him the bird.

    3. an obscene gesture of contempt made by raising the middle finger.

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verb (used without object)

1. to catch or shoot birds.

2. to bird-watch.

idioms

1. bird in the hand, a thing possessed in fact as opposed to a thing about which one speculates: Also bird in hand.

   A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

2. birds of a feather, people with interests, opinions, or backgrounds in common.

   Birds of a feather flock together.

3. for the birds, useless or worthless; not to be taken seriously.

   Their opinions on art are for the birds. That pep rally is for the birds.

4. 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.

5. a little bird, a secret source of information.

   A little bird told me that today is your birthday.

6. 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.

7. 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.

Bird ² American  

[burd] / bɜrd /

noun

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

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bird ¹ British  

/ bɜːd /

noun

1. 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

2. informal a person (usually preceded by a qualifying adjective, as in the phrases rare bird, odd bird, clever bird )

3. slang a girl or young woman, esp one's girlfriend

4. slang prison or a term in prison (esp in the phrase do bird ; shortened from birdlime , rhyming slang for time )

5. something definite or certain

6. informal the person in question has fled or escaped

7. euphemistic sex and sexual reproduction

8. people with the same characteristics, ideas, interests, etc

9. informal

   1. to be fired or dismissed

   2. (esp of a public performer) to be hissed at, booed, or derided

10. informal to tell someone rudely to depart; scoff at; hiss

11. to accomplish two things with one action

12. without resistance or difficulty

13. a (supposedly) unknown informant

    a little bird told me it was your birthday

14. informal deserving of disdain or contempt; not important

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Bird ² British  

/ bɜːd /

noun

1. nickname of (Charlie) Parker

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bird Scientific  

/ bûrd /

1. 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.

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bird More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing bird

• 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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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 Word Forms

Derived Forms

• birdless
  adjective
• birdlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• birds
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bird

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

Explanation

A bird is an animal with wings, feathers, and two legs. Birds, from chickens to crows, are also warm-blooded and lay eggs. Most birds can fly using their wings, and when you visit the coast you'll see various sea birds like gulls, terns, and cormorants. You can use the word bird as a verb meaning "to observe birds as a hobby," and in some places, particularly Britain, it's also a noun meaning "young woman." Bird is an Old English word, an unusual form of bridd, "young bird or fledgling," from an unknown origin.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bird Bird birds

A study released in February found it was affecting bird behaviour across the globe, disrupting everything from courtship songs to their ability to find food and avoid predators.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

“And sweetest in the gale is heard; and sore must be the storm that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

As we walk through the greenery, it is eerily quiet bar bird song and the mewing of hungry, stray cats.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

The model assumes that the bird needs the current climate set-up that exists in alpine meadows in the future too, a reasonable but not certain assumption.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Each arrow turned into a bird that flew right off his skin.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Bryant’s concept of franchising the show across different sports gave Manning the idea to do the same with “Peyton’s Places,” thereby creating spinoffs with his brother, Eli, John McEnroe, Sue Bird and others.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

Dan Bird, from cyber security firm Horizon3 says the pop up message the criminals sent implies that their access has gone beyond the Snowflake database.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Following a Journal investigation into a deceptive social-media campaign, Polymarket restructured its marketing team, including hiring the founder of electric-scooter company Bird as chief of growth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

These days, the goal is to get traded, retain Bird rights and maximize earnings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

She stepped back as the Blue Bird pulled out.

From "A Long Way from Chicago" by Richard Peck

The research on the birds is expected to continue into December.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

“They studied Hitler being alive and ‘are birds real?’ — some of the classic ones that you hear about,” Maye explained.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

Koalas, microbats and honeyeater birds are among the 23 threatened species living in a nature reserve she says is under threat from Yancoal's Moolarben mine, which wants to add another 30 million tonnes of coal.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

A panel of wildlife experts drew up a shortlist of 18 mammals, birds, amphibians insects and fish which were put forward to public nominations.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

“I haven’t really spent any time there. If I’m not swimming, I’m taking care of the animals. There isn’t much time for exploring. I suppose the refuge has birds, gators, deer, snakes … Florida things.”

From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith

Related Words

• fowl