jackdaw

[jak-daw]

noun

1. a glossy, black, European bird, Corvus monedula, of the crow family, that nests in towers, ruins, etc.

2. boat-tailed grackle.

jackdaw

/ ˈdʒækˌdɔː /

noun

1. a large common Eurasian passerine bird, Corvus monedula , in which the plumage is black and dark grey: noted for its thieving habits: family Corvidae (crows)

Word History and Origins

Origin of jackdaw¹

First recorded in 1535–45; jack ¹ + daw

Word History and Origins

Origin of jackdaw¹

C16: from _jack ¹ + _daw

Example Sentences

Thousands of jackdaws can suddenly take to the morning skies in winter, creating a whirling black cloud of creatures.

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Like many poets before him, he had a keen sense of how memory could repose in objects, whether “dungy sticks / In a jackdaw’s nest” or “a marble bust commanding the parterre.”

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The Victorian dovecote in the eaves of the coach house may even remain home to the family of jackdaws now living there.

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Mr. Weston cut grass on a tractor and helped to patrol the estate, evicting jackdaws that had nested in the main house’s chimneys and checking for fire safety and general security.

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Her bedroom menagerie included an orphaned crow, a badger cub, a wounded jackdaw and a whole nest of baby bullfinches.

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