birdcage

[burd-keyj]

See more synonyms for birdcage on Thesaurus.com

noun

a cage for confining birds.
something that resembles a birdcage in form.
Slang. the airspace over an airport, together with the airplanes in it.

Origin of birdcage

First recorded in 1480–90; bird + cage

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

Related Words for birdcage

hutch, corral, mew, pound, cage, enclosure, birdcage, lock-up

Examples from the Web for birdcage

Contemporary Examples of birdcage

He dragged up and spoke for inclusive family values in the 1993 film and played a loving gay partner in ‘The Birdcage.’
How Robin Williams’ Mrs. Doubtfire Won the Culture Wars
Tim Teeman
August 13, 2014
Films like The Birdcage, In Out, and As Good As It Gets established a new norm for gay characters in media.
Hollywood’s Evolving Heart: How Movies Grew to Love Gays
Teo Bugbee
May 28, 2014

Historical Examples of birdcage

She slipped down and ran into the next room to come back with a birdcage.
Mary Rose of Mifflin
Frances R. Sterrett
The birdcage and dog musical-box in the illustration are of this kind.
Chatterbox, 1905.
Various
The birdcage, instead of being high in the tree, is lowered and hangs from it.
Pickwickian Manners and Customs
Percy Fitzgerald
I suspect this is owing to what passed in the House about opening the Birdcage Walk.
The Greville Memoirs
Charles C. F. Greville
The scene afterwards in the Birdcage when I went in to see him weighed was most amusing.
Sporting Society, Vol. II (of 2)
Various

British Dictionary definitions for birdcage

birdcage

noun

a wire or wicker cage in which captive birds are kept
any object of a similar shape, construction, or purpose
Australian and NZ an area on a racecourse where horses parade before a race
NZ informal a second-hand car dealer's yard

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 birdcage

also bird-cage, late 15c., from bird (n.1) + cage (n.).