the male of the peafowl distinguished by its long, erectile, greenish, iridescent tail coverts that are brilliantly marked with ocellated spots and that can be spread in a fan.
any peafowl.
a vain, self-conscious person.
Astronomy. Peacock, the constellation Pavo.
a male peafowl, having a crested head and a very large fanlike tail marked with blue and green eyelike spots
another name for peafowl
a vain strutting person
to display (oneself) proudly
obsolete to acquire (the best pieces of land) in such a way that the surrounding land is useless to others
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English pecok, pocok equivalent to pe- ( Old English pēa “peafowl,” from Latin pāvōn-, stem of pavō peacock ( def. ) ) + cok ( Old English coc cock 1 )
A peacock is a shiny blue bird who fans out his large colorful iridescent tail feathers, especially when he’s flirting with the peahens. A peacock is a male peafowl. A male peacock is more flamboyant than his female counterpart — he’s the one with those long brilliant tail feathers marked with eye-like designs. If a man (a human!) dresses overly flashy, he’s “peacocking.” The writer Flannery O’ Connor was famous for having peacocks strut around her farm in Georgia. Peacocks also have a loud call that sounds almost like a human cry. The word peacock has many etymological influences, and it may ultimately come from the Tamil tokei.
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Deals with major streaming platforms including Apple TV and Peacock boosted subscription revenue over the first quarter, Morningstar analyst Matthew Dolgin noted.
From Barron's • May 1, 2026
Custom kitchens designed by Christopher Peacock are encased in wood and fluted glass cabinetry with 2-inch-thick Calacatta marble on the kitchen islands.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 30, 2026
Comcast’s Peacock streaming service was also a source of strength, with revenue growth of 71%, to $2.1 billion, from a year earlier.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
“Legendary February showcased the strength of our Media portfolio, leveraging the unmatched reach of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl to drive record advertising and strong Peacock growth,” Comcast’s co-CEOs say.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
“Brief everyone in the morning. The official word is that there were no survivors. Operation Peacock goes on as scheduled.”
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
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.
