birdie

[bur-dee]

noun

a small bird.

Golf. a score of one stroke under par on a hole.

a shuttlecock.

verb (used with object), bird·ied, bird·ie·ing.

Golf. to make a birdie on (a hole).

Origin of birdie

First recorded in 1785–95; bird + -ie

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

Examples from the Web for birdie

Contemporary Examples of birdie

Anytime you want to break my heart, you can just have Don call her “Birdie.”
‘Mad Men’ Creator Matthew Weiner on the Season Finale
Jace Lacob
June 24, 2013
Four years old, and I was on the subway, the old BMT from Brooklyn to Manhattan, just making the matinee of Bye, Bye, Birdie.
The Greatest Role My Father Ever Played
Seth Lerer
June 16, 2013

Historical Examples of birdie

But Birdie was quite equal to the best efforts of her candidates.
The Twins of Suffering Creek
Ridgwell Cullum
Birdie laughed dutifully, but her retort was rather disconcerting.
The Twins of Suffering Creek
Ridgwell Cullum
Birdie contrived a blush of pleasure, and edged a little nearer to him.
The Twins of Suffering Creek
Ridgwell Cullum
"Aboot the cross-bow an' the birdie, ye ken," answered David, in a tone of surprise.
David Elginbrod
George MacDonald
There I picked up Birdie and heard the Anzac part of the battle.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume 2
Ian Hamilton

British Dictionary definitions for birdie

birdie

noun

golf a score of one stroke under par for a hole

informal a bird, esp a small bird

verb

(tr) golf to play (a hole) in one stroke under par

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 birdie

"little bird," 1792, from bird (n.1) + -ie. As golf slang for "a hole played one under par," by 1908, perhaps from bird (n.) in American English slang sense of "exceptionally clever or accomplished person or thing" (1839).