dodo

American  

[doh-doh] / ˈdoʊ doʊ /

noun

plural

dodos, dodoes

1. any of several clumsy, flightless, extinct birds of the genera Raphus and Pezophaps, related to pigeons but about the size of a turkey, formerly inhabiting the islands of Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodriguez.

2. Slang. a dull-witted, slow-reacting person.

3. a person with old-fashioned, conservative, or outmoded ideas.

4. a thing that is outmoded or obsolete.

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dodo British  

/ ˈdəʊdəʊ /

noun

1. any flightless bird, esp Raphus cucullatus, of the recently extinct family Raphidae of Mauritius and adjacent islands: order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc). They had a hooked bill, short stout legs, and greyish plumage See also ratite

2. informal an intensely conservative or reactionary person who is unaware of changing fashions, ideas, etc

3. (of a person or thing) irretrievably defunct or out of date

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dodo Idioms  

1. see under dead as a doornail.

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Other Word Forms

• dodoism noun

Etymology

Origin of dodo

First recorded in 1620–30, dodo is from the Portuguese word doudo, fool, madman (of uncertain origin); the bird apparently so called from its clumsy appearance

Example Sentences

Now if the last remaining hereditary peers play their cards right, they could endure another Labour prime minister and delay their destiny to go the way of the dodo.

From BBC

“Or else both will go extinct, like the dodos?”

From Literature

She knew the Latin phrase “tempus fugit,” which means “time flies,” like a bird—but there were flightless birds, after all: ostriches and emus and dodos and so on.

From Literature

Besides, after coming face-to-face with an ostrich, anything short of a dodo was bound to be a letdown.

From Literature

The Hall of Extinction and Hope analogizes manmade climate change and habitat destruction to a slow-moving asteroid that has already obliterated species such as the passenger pigeon, dodo and great auk.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• clodpoll