Dictionary.com
definitions

game bird

|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR game bird ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any bird hunted chiefly for sport, as a quail or pheasant, especially such a bird that is protected by game laws.

RELATED CONTENT

Which Came First: Turkey The Bird, Or Turkey The Nation?The republic of Turkey (look north of Egypt, east of Greece) isn't exactly a breeding ground for the bird that Americans associate with Thanksgiving. In fact, the turkey is native to North America ... so, why do they share the same name?
READ MORE
A Flamboyance Of Flamingos And Other Brilliant Bird Group NamesRead more in this article about some frequently asked questions and fun facts related to our definitions.
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

grouse, quail, curlew, partridge, pheasant, plover, sandpiper, snipe, wildfowl, woodcock

Nearby words

gambrel, gambrel roof, gambrinus, gambusia, game, game bird, game birds, game chips, game face, game fish, game fowl

Origin of game bird

First recorded in 1865–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for game bird

  • Chicken-hazard is scotched, not killed; but a poor, weazened, etiolated biped is that once game-bird now.

    The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims|Andrew Steinmetz

  • If you spread open the wing of any game-bird, you will find the upper part (near the second joint) more or less bare.

    Dog Breaking|William Nelson Hutchinson

British Dictionary definitions for game bird

game bird

noun

a bird of any species hunted as game
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