chough
Americannoun
noun
-
a large black passerine bird, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, of parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, with a long downward-curving red bill: family Corvidae (crows)
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a smaller related bird, Pyrrhocorax graculus, with a shorter yellow bill
Etymology
Origin of chough
1275–1325; Middle English choghe; akin to Old English cēo, Dutch kauw, Danish kaa
Vocabulary lists containing chough
"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 3
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"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 5
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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.
Take an Australian bird called the white-winged chough.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
She found it easier this time, and there was the chough, with her in her own world, perching on a branch that hung low over the pavement.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
In the following exceptions, however, gh is pronounced as f: cough, chough, clough, enough, laugh, rough, slough, tough, trough.
From The Handy Cyclopedia of Things Worth Knowing A Manual of Ready Reference by Triemens, Joseph
Drury revives! her rounded pate Is blue, is heavenly blue with slate; She "wings the midway air," elate, As magpie, crow, or chough; White paint her modish visage smears, Yellow and pointed are her ears.
From The Humorous Poetry of the English Language; from Chaucer to Saxe by Parton, James
Think you that I cannot pluck yon chough without being pinched?
From The Yeoman Adventurer by Gough, George W.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
