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.
any of several other birds of the family Corvidae.
any of various similar birds of other families.
Astronomy. Crow, the constellation Corvus.
have a crow to pick / pluck with someone, to have a reason to disagree or argue with someone.
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.
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.
the characteristic cry of a rooster.
an inarticulate cry of pleasure.
a member of a Siouan people of eastern Montana.
a Siouan language closely related to Hidatsa.
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
any of various other corvine birds, such as the jay, magpie, and nutcracker
any of various similar birds of other families
offensive an old or ugly woman
short for crowbar
as directly as possible
informal to be forced to do something humiliating
(past tense crowed or crew) to utter a shrill squawking sound, as a cock
(often foll by over) to boast one's superiority
(esp of babies) to utter cries of pleasure
a member of a Native American people living in E Montana
the language of this people, belonging to the Siouan family
First recorded before 900; Middle English crowe, Old English crāwe, crāwa; cognate with Old High German krāwa; akin to Dutch kraai, German Krähe
First recorded before 1000; Middle English crouen, crowen, Old English crāwan; cognate with Dutch kraaien, German krähen; see crow 1
1795–1805; translation of North American French ( gens des ) Corbeaux Raven (people), literal translation of Crow apsá˙loke a Crow Indian
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That’s 28 miles as the crow flies, but our route, with a detour for lunch in Cuyama, swelled the journey to more than 100 miles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Perhaps the same will be true with “Obsession”; Curry Barker’s copycats will try and fail to interpret the trials of dating when personality is a facade, and I’ll be left eating crow.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Despite his age, the pensioner is also partial to a bit of Pilates, and recently mastered the "crow" pose.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
Most microraptors were quite small, with some species reaching only about the size of a crow.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026
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
She hit the comedy festival scene in 2024 as a standout comic at the Bergamot Comedy Fest at the Crow, which is known for discovering up-and-coming talent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
Kelly Crow is a staff reporter covering the art market for The Wall Street Journal and a contributing editor for WSJ.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Mike Levin of California, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Jason Crow of Colorado — launched the End Corruption Caucus, creating another vehicle for oversight ideas should Democrats take control of the House.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
The Jim Crow Era ushered in a new kind of slavery but eventually galvanized Congress to establish some of its most impactful legislation, in the VRA and the Civil Rights Act.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
One of the most compelling accounts of the postemancipation period is The Strange Career of Jim Crow, written by C. Vann Woodward in 1955.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Scavenger animals such as possums, red foxes and crows can be exposed to the virus while devouring the carcasses of infected birds.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
“The grounds rival those of a world-class private resort,” the listing description crows.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
At one point Neriya and her companions are ushered into the sanctum sanctorum of a corvid roost, where thousands if not millions of crows coexist in sophisticated collaboration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
We just saw crows, loitering on fence posts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026
Do you think there might be crows somewhere?
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
“Something I told people on our crew was, ‘Forever is a really long time.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
It's four times the size of any actual property so it can accommodate the cameras, lights and crew, as well as the characters who are supposed to live there.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
The agreement includes wage increases and new compensation for work that cabin crew previously performed without pay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
But the further I traveled with the crew at the heart of “It Ends,” the more blown away I was by the deceptively, ahem, straightforward themes Ullom chips away at.
From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026
The Huey landed ahead of them, and two crew members jumped out and met the group.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
When Eric Schmidt, speaking last week to the University of Arizona’s graduates, rhapsodized about the coming artificial-intelligence revolution, some in the crowed jeered.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
Ada Carrillo, one of the devout who crowed the basilica this week, said she unites all of Mexico, transcending political, geographic and class divides.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025
These are all evidence of a healthy company exuding confidence, and management crowed that it was “well-positioned” for the fourth quarter, its busiest time of the year.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2025
"So much for being isolated," crowed the tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets earlier this week.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2025
CO told me to shut up!” he crowed, completely jazzed, as I walked away.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
But the deal he’s now crowing about ensures only that the U.S and Iran will talk about new nuclear limits.
From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2026
It was first to publicly announce an end to the exchange with Israel and avoided crowing about the downing of the Apache as it had when other American aircraft were shot down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
While crowing about its Pentagon projects, IonQ hasn’t highlighted that the majority of them weren’t funded in the last two federal budgets, Wolfpack says.
From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026
Characters take overcrowded buses to low-paying jobs, or wake up to the neighborhood rooster crowing at the break of dawn.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
Except for the rooster, who was insane, crowing again and again to the rising moon rather than the sun.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
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.
