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curassow

[kyoo r-uh-soh, kyoo-ras-oh]
noun
  1. any of several large, arboreal, gallinaceous birds of the family Cracidae, of South and Central America.
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Origin of curassow

First recorded in 1675–85; after Curaçao
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for curassow

Historical Examples

  • We first visited the tree on which he had set the snare for the curassow.

    The Wanderers

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • Large birds, like the curassow, and also monkeys, were shot for food.

    Theodore Roosevelt

    Edmund Lester Pearson

  • Another type of curassow is the latter-mentioned hocco, a name said to be a native word in Guiana.

    The American Egypt

    Channing Arnold

  • “Now I must introduce my curassow turkey,” she said, calling another very handsome bird, almost as large as an ordinary turkey.

  • “Crass,” (the name we gave to the curassow), soon became a great favourite, and made Quacko and Ara very jealous.

    The Wanderers

    W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for curassow

curassow

noun
  1. any gallinaceous ground-nesting bird of the family Cracidae, of S North, Central, and South America. Curassows have long legs and tails and, typically, a distinctive crest of curled feathersSee also guan
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Word Origin

C17: anglicized variant of Curaçao (island)
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