turbit

[tur-bit]

noun

one of a breed of domestic pigeons having a stout, roundish body, a short head and beak, and a ruffled breast and neck.

Origin of turbit

1680–90; variant of turbot; apparently because, like the fish, the bird is toplike in outline

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for turbit

Historical Examples of turbit

Soup top and bottom (white and brown), removed by turbit and sammon with immense boles of lobster-sauce.
The History of Samuel Titmarsh
William Makepeace Thackeray
The Pouter inflates both its true crop and œsophagus; the Turbit inflates in a much less degree the œsophagus alone.
The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Vol. I.
Charles Darwin
The direction and length of certain feathers have been much modified, as in the hood of the Jacobin and the frill of the Turbit.
The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Vol. I.
Charles Darwin

British Dictionary definitions for turbit

turbit

noun

a crested breed of domestic pigeon

Word Origin for turbit

C17: from Latin turbō spinning top, with reference to the bird's shape; compare turbot

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