crow

¹ American  

[kroh] / kroʊ /

noun

1. any of several large oscine birds of the genus Corvus, of the family Corvidae, having a long, stout bill, lustrous black plumage, and a wedge-shaped tail, as the common C. brachyrhynchos, of North America.

2. any of several other birds of the family Corvidae.

3. any of various similar birds of other families.

4. Astronomy. Crow, the constellation Corvus.

5. crowbar.

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idioms

1. have a crow to pick / pluck with someone, to have a reason to disagree or argue with someone.

2. eat crow, to be forced to admit to having made a mistake, as by retracting an emphatic statement; suffer humiliation.

   His prediction was completely wrong, and he had to eat crow.

3. as the crow flies, in a straight line; by the most direct route.

   The next town is thirty miles from here, as the crow flies.

crow ² American  

[kroh] / kroʊ /

verb (used without object)

crowed, crew, crowed, crowing

1. to utter the characteristic cry of a rooster.

2. to gloat, boast, or exult (often followed byover ).

   Synonyms:

   brag, vaunt

3. to utter an inarticulate cry of pleasure, as an infant does.

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noun

1. the characteristic cry of a rooster.

2. an inarticulate cry of pleasure.

Crow ³ American  

[kroh] / kroʊ /

noun

1. a member of a Siouan people of eastern Montana.

2. a Siouan language closely related to Hidatsa.

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crow ¹ British  

/ krəʊ /

noun

1. any large gregarious songbird of the genus Corvus, esp C. corone (the carrion crow) of Europe and Asia: family Corvidae . Other species are the raven, rook, and jackdaw and all have a heavy bill, glossy black plumage, and rounded wings See also carrion crow

2. any of various other corvine birds, such as the jay, magpie, and nutcracker

3. any of various similar birds of other families

4. offensive an old or ugly woman

5. short for crowbar

6. as directly as possible

7. informal to be forced to do something humiliating

8. stone

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crow ² British  

/ krəʊ /

verb

1. (past tense crowed or crew) to utter a shrill squawking sound, as a cock

2. (often foll by over) to boast one's superiority

3. (esp of babies) to utter cries of pleasure

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noun

1. the act or an instance of crowing

Crow ³ British  

/ krəʊ /

noun

1. a member of a Native American people living in E Montana

2. the language of this people, belonging to the Siouan family

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crow More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing crow

• as the crow flies
• eat crow

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Other Word Forms

• crower noun
• crowingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of crow¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English crowe, Old English crāwe, crāwa; cognate with Old High German krāwa; akin to Dutch kraai, German Krähe

Origin of crow²

First recorded before 1000; Middle English crouen, crowen, Old English crāwan; cognate with Dutch kraaien, German krähen; crow ¹

Origin of Crow³

1795–1805; translation of North American French ( gens des ) Corbeaux Raven (people), literal translation of Crow apsá˙loke a Crow Indian

Explanation

A crow is a large, intelligent, black bird with a loud call. Farmers and gardeners set up "scarecrows" to keep crows away from their seeds and crops. A crow is glossy and dark, a close relation of the raven, and a large group of crows is known as a murder. When a crow caws, you can also say it crows — and another way to crow is to call out with satisfaction about something: "I'm so proud of the award I just want to crow about it all day long!" The Old English root of crow is crawe, which imitates the sound a crow makes.

Example Sentences

“I’ve had to eat crow, because it became big all over the world.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

A frozen crow was encased in the snow.

From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026

When a crow sometimes consciously detects a stimulus and sometimes does not, specific nerve cells respond in line with that internal experience.

From Science Daily • Dec. 15, 2025

"When the easy part, stablecoin, takes ~4 to 5 years and barely survives industry scandals, it's not much to crow about."

From BBC • Jul. 17, 2025

An old crow cawed her thanks and flapped ahead with two smaller crows following after her, joining the rest as we started to walk.

From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia

Related Words

• boast
• brag
• exult
• gloat
• squawk
• strut