rookery

[roo k-uh-ree]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rookery ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural rook·er·ies.

a breeding place or colony of gregarious birds or animals, as penguins and seals.

a colony of rooks.

a place where rooks congregate to breed.

a crowded tenement house.

RELATED WORDS

hatchery, birthplace

Nearby words

Origin of rookery

First recorded in 1715–25; rook¹ + -ery

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for rookery

The polished wood-paneled Rookery Hotel calls itself “Soho in the East” and frankly, that undersells it.
Gal With a Suitcase|Jolie Hunt|November 21, 2009|DAILY BEAST
“To the Rookery,” he ordered, naming the first office-building that came into his head.
The Girl and The Bill|Bannister Merwin
At Cape Adare in 1911, half the rookery had departed when we arrived in the autumn.
Antarctic Penguins|George Murray Levick
No one can spend half-an-hour watching a rookery without being convinced of this.
The Second Thoughts of An Idle Fellow|Jerome K. Jerome

All day these floes, often crowded to their utmost capacity, would float past the rookery.
Antarctic Penguins|George Murray Levick
When rooks desert a rookery it is said to foretell the downfall of the family on whose property it is.
Folk-lore of Shakespeare|Thomas Firminger Thiselton-Dyer

British Dictionary definitions for rookery

rookery

noun plural -eries

a group of nesting rooks

a clump of trees containing rooks' nests

a breeding ground or communal living area of certain other species of gregarious birds or mammals, esp penguins or seals
a colony of any such creatures

archaic an overcrowded slum tenement building or area of housing

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

Word Origin and History for rookery

rookery

"colony of rooks," 1725, from rook (n.1) + -ery.

Science definitions for rookery

rookery

[ruk′ə-rē]

A place where certain birds or animals, such as crows, penguins, and seals, gather to breed.