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megapode

[meg-uh-pohd]
noun
  1. any of several large-footed, short-winged gallinaceous Australasian birds of the family Megapodiidae, typically building a compostlike mound of decaying vegetation as an incubator for their eggs.
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Origin of megapode

First recorded in 1855–60, megapode is from the New Latin word Megapodius genus name. See mega-, -pod
Also called brush turkey, moundbird, mound builder, scrub fowl.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for megapode

Historical Examples of megapode

  • We only obtained one megapode on Trinkat, and it was found in a trap.

    In the Andamans and Nicobars

    C. Boden Kloss

  • During the season, he lived almost entirely on megapode eggs.

  • In truth, he cared no more for megapode meat than for any other meat.

  • Megapode eggs only stung his taste alive and stimulated the flow of his juices.

  • The birds were a species of megapode, which are found chiefly in Australia and Borneo and the intermediate islands.

    The Rival Crusoes

    W.H.G. Kingston

British Dictionary definitions for megapode

megapode

noun
  1. any ground-living gallinaceous bird of the family Megapodiidae, of Australia, New Guinea, and adjacent islands. Their eggs incubate in mounds of sand, rotting vegetation, etc, by natural heatAlso called: mound-builder See also brush turkey, mallee fowl
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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