rookery

[ roo k-uh-ree ]

/ ˈrʊk ə ri /

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

rooibos, rooibos tea, rooikat, rooinek, rook, rookery, rookie, rooky, room, room and board, room clerk

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

/ (ˈrʊkərɪ) /

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.