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cere

1 American  
[seer] / sɪər /

noun

Ornithology.
ceres plural
  1. a fleshy, membranous covering of the base of the upper mandible of a bird, especially a bird of prey or a parrot, through which the nostrils open.


cere 2 American  
[seer] / sɪər /

verb (used with object)

cered, cering
  1. Archaic. to wrap in or as if in a cerecloth, especially a corpse.

  2. Obsolete. to wax.


cere 1 British  
/ sɪə /

noun

  1. a soft waxy swelling, containing the nostrils, at the base of the upper beak in such birds as the parrot

"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

cere 2 British  
/ sɪə /

verb

  1. (tr) to wrap (a corpse) in a cerecloth

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of cere1

1480–90; earlier sere, spelling variant of *cere < Medieval Latin cēra literally, wax < Latin

Origin of cere2

1375–1425; late Middle English ceren < Latin cērāre to wax, verbal derivative of cēra wax

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Cooper’s cere date also fell on a Friday the 13th as well, but the actor wrote the date as the 14th in hopes of avoiding anything suspicious.

From Los Angeles Times May 18, 2017

Note that the green-necked bird has a larger, more bulbous cere than the red-necked one.

From Scientific American Jun. 29, 2015

The cere, if you don't know, is a pale, soft mass of tissue at the base of the bill.

From Scientific American Jun. 29, 2015

The master of cere monies behaved like an inquisitor, suggesting that nothing could possibly go wrong, honesty-wise.

From Time Magazine Archive

The cere and plainly notched bill of this carving clearly indicate a hawk, of what species it would be impossible to say.

From Animal Carvings from Mounds of the Mississippi Valley Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 117-166 by Henshaw, Henry W. (Henry Wetherbee)

This provides another indication that the green-necked bird is a male - males tend to have larger ceres than females.

From Scientific American Jun. 29, 2015

It's not unique to pigeons: parrots, falcons, skuas, owls, some galliforms and others have ceres too.

From Scientific American Jun. 29, 2015

Their general plumage is slate colour, but they have a red ceres or skin on the head.

From Expedition into Central Australia by Sturt, Charles

Here we observe the ancient letter z standing for s and that for r, also the word cerus masc. of ceres, connected with the root creare.

From The History of Roman Literature From the earliest period to the death of Marcus Aurelius by Cruttwell, Charles Thomas

Toucans, colours and nidification of the; beaks and ceres of the.

From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles

There was gray in the black of his body and legs, and each of the eyes on his ugly, pin- cered head was milky white.

From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling

And then she was wrapped in cered cloth of Raines, from the top to the toe, in thirtyfold, and after she was put in a web of lead, and then in a coffin of marble.

From Le Mort d'Arthur: Volume 2 by Malory, Thomas, Sir

And then she was wrapped in cered cloth of Raines, from the top to the toe in thirty-fold, and after she was put in a web of lead, and then in a coffin of marble.

From Studies from Court and Cloister: being essays, historical and literary dealing mainly with subjects relating to the XVIth and XVIIth centuries by Stone, J. M. (Jean Mary)

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