guinea fowl

American  

Or guineafowl

noun

• guinea fowls
  plural

1. any of several African, gallinaceous birds of the subfamily Numidinae, especially a common species, Numida meleagris, that has a bony casque on the head and dark gray plumage spotted with white and that is now domesticated and raised for its flesh and eggs.

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guinea fowl British  

noun

1. any gallinaceous bird, esp Numida meleagris, of the family Numididae of Africa and SW Asia, having a dark plumage mottled with white, a naked head and neck, and a heavy rounded body

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• guinea fowls
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of guinea fowl

First recorded in 1645–55; see also turkey ( def. )

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

guinea fowl

To investigate, the researchers attached small weights to one leg of young guinea fowl, birds closely related to chickens that walk on two legs like humans.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

We also learn more about guinea fowl than ever imagined, including how the plump species warns the rest of the herd of danger.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2024

Hanja Brandl at the University of Konstanz in Germany is studying guinea fowl in Kenya using small implanted heart-rate loggers combined with solar GPS trackers to observe how stress moves from bird to bird.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 30, 2022

Everywhere it goes, it moves in swirling clouds of ox-peckers and egrets and guinea fowl.

From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 2021

The guinea fowl panicked—and fluttered in the wrong direction.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

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