jackdaw

[ jak-daw ]

/ ˈdʒækˌdɔ /

Save This Word!

noun

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

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of jackdaw

First recorded in 1535–45; jack¹ + daw

Words nearby jackdaw

jackbooted, jack-by-the-hedge, jack chain, jack crevalle, jack crosstree, jackdaw, jacked, Jackeen, Jackelyn, jackeroo, jacket

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use jackdaw in a sentence

Every morning an old jackdaw perched on a chimney outside our skylight, and entertained us with his chatter.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow
Tinker hopped round him as nimbly as a tomtit or a jackdaw, and presently gave him another little taste of his steel.
Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks|Bracebridge Hemyng
Beneath the jackdaw's wing, where so many of our cathedrals repose, sanctity and authority would be conferred upon it.
Adventures and Enthusiasms|E. V. Lucas
He speaks yawing like a jackdaw that gapes to be fed with cheese-curds.
The Mermaid Series. Edited by H. Ellis. The best plays of the old dramatists. Thomas Dekker. Edited, with an introduction and notes by Ernest Rhys.|Thomas Dekker

The artful Jackdaw builds in the cliffs, and his cousin, the Crow, searches the shore for food.
On the Seashore|R. Cadwallader Smith

British Dictionary definitions for jackdaw

jackdaw

/ (ˈdʒækˌdɔː) /

noun

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 Origin for jackdaw

C16: from jack 1 + daw

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