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turkey buzzard

American  
turkey buzzard British  

noun

  1. a New World vulture, Cathartes aura , having a dark plumage and naked red head

"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

Etymology

Origin of turkey buzzard

An Americanism dating back to 1665–75

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Sign you really have bad breath: The turkey buzzard next to you edges away.

From Washington Post • Sep. 27, 2018

Riding the wind, blacker than the clouds, the inquisitive turkey buzzard glided over the rim of the stands with air whistling through the spatulate feathers of rigid wings.

From Thy Rocks and Rills by Gilbert, Robert E.

Chíchepa, spotted chicken-hawk; Chikpina, weasel; Hapawila, water snake; Jewinna, chicken-hawk; Jewinpa, young chicken-hawk; Kedila, soaproot plant; Matsklila, turkey buzzard; Pakálai Jáwichi, water lizard; Tirúkala, lamprey eel; Wirula, red fox.

From Creation Myths of Primitive America In relation to the Religious History and Mental Development of Mankind by Curtin, Jeremiah

Sheltered in the bosom of these grim precipices, only the eagle, the hawk, the turkey buzzard, or the mountain sheep could venture to intrude upon them.

From The Greater Republic A History of the United States by Morris, Charles

And temper, say, he's gettin' as red in the face as a turkey buzzard, struttin' around with a chip on its wing, ready for a fight.

From The Boy Scouts in the Rockies or the Secret of the Hidden Silver Mine by Carter, Herbert

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