any of several Old World gallinaceous game birds of the subfamily Perdicinae, especially Perdix perdix.
Chiefly Northern U.S. the ruffed grouse.
Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. bobwhite.
any of several other North American gallinaceous game birds.
any of various South and Central American tinamous.
any of various small Old World gallinaceous game birds of the genera Perdix, Alectoris, etc, esp P. perdix ( common or European partridge ): family Phasianidae (pheasants)
any of various other gallinaceous birds, esp the bobwhite and ruffed grouse
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English partrich, variant of pertrich, from Middle French pertris, variant of perdris, Old French perd(r)iz, from Latin perdix, from Greek pérdix
A partridge is a wild brown bird. What is that partridge doing in a pear tree in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas"? Who knows, since most partridges live on the ground and hardly ever climb trees. Partridges are popular with European hunters, but there are very few partridges in North America, although some have been introduced as game birds. The word partridge comes from the Greek perdix and can ultimately be traced back to a Sanskrit word that mimics the whirring sound of a bird's wings.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Hunters pay big money to enter the grounds, but they are given express instructions to focus on deer and partridge, and leave the felines well alone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
One X user wrote they were “glad that olivia rodrigo and louis partridge are finally dating people their age and not weirdos in their late twenties who think it’s okay to date teens.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2023
Nightingale, greenfinch, grey partridge, marsh tit, skylark, nightjar and tree pipit - all Red List species - have been recorded.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2023
On the first day of Christmas, it will set shoppers back $280.18 to buy a partridge in a pear tree for their true love — a 25.8% increase from last year.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 23, 2022
Platters of duck and partridge, rabbit and bird eggs, and seasoned venison passed by in dizzying numbers.
From "The Ugly One" by Leanne Statland Ellis
Partridge, 23, smiles at this and tells me there is something almost sibling-like about their dynamic, which may explain why they are so comfortable teasing each other.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Partridge remembers filming once stopping "for five hours" because Brown felt Enola would have worked something out sooner.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Vulture populations are booming across the U.S., according to Hannah Partridge, who works for the National Audubon Society and studied vultures for years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
A growing number of self-identified pastors such as Dale Partridge, Joel Webbon, and Martin Sedra have borrowed influencer-style tactics to draw in viewers.
From Salon ● May 4, 2026
Bridge tried to give her a smile and a thumbs-up, but Em was looking at Mr. Partridge, who had stepped away from the light board to talk up at her.
From "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead
From the passenger seat, I often spotted rabbits fleeing down dirt roads and scampering under bushes, many joined by red-legged partridges.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
Weeks later, the disease was again confirmed at a commercial gamebird premises near Wrexham, containing more than 20,000 pheasants and partridges.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2025
The royal family’s 20,000-acre country estate in Norfolk, where Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed spending Christmas and shooting partridges.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2023
They’re not turtle doves or partridges in a pear tree, but they’re family.
From New York Times ● Dec. 23, 2022
We carried the tree home and decorated it with Grandma’s antique ornaments: ornate colored balls, fragile glass partridges, and lights with long tubes of bubbling water.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
