bird

¹

[burd]

noun

1. any warm-blooded vertebrate of the class Aves, having a body covered with feathers, forelimbs modified into wings, scaly legs, a beak, and no teeth, and bearing young in a hard-shelled egg.

2. a fowl or game bird.

3. Sports.

   1. clay pigeon.

   2. a shuttlecock.

4. Slang.,  a person, especially one having some peculiarity.

   He's a queer bird.

5. Informal.,  an aircraft, spacecraft, or guided missile.

6. Cooking.,  a thin piece of meat, poultry, or fish rolled around a stuffing and braised.

   veal birds.

7. Southern U.S.,  (in hunting) a bobwhite.

8. Chiefly British Slang.,  a girl or young woman.

9. Archaic.,  the young of any fowl.

10. Slang.,  the bird,

    1. disapproval, as of a performance, by hissing, booing, etc..

       He got the bird when he came out on stage.

    2. scoffing or ridicule.

       He was trying to be serious, but we all gave him the bird.

    3. an obscene gesture of contempt made by raising the middle finger.

verb (used without object)

1. to catch or shoot birds.

2. to bird-watch.

Bird

²

[burd]

noun

1. Larry, born 1956, U.S. basketball player.

Bird

¹

/ bɜːd /

noun

1. nickname of (Charlie) Parker

bird

²

/ bɜːd /

noun

1. any warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrate of the class Aves , characterized by a body covering of feathers and forelimbs modified as wings. Birds vary in size between the ostrich and the humming bird

2. informal,  a person (usually preceded by a qualifying adjective, as in the phrases rare bird, odd bird, clever bird )

3. slang,  a girl or young woman, esp one's girlfriend

4. slang,  prison or a term in prison (esp in the phrase do bird ; shortened from birdlime , rhyming slang for time )

5. something definite or certain

6. informal,  the person in question has fled or escaped

7. euphemistic,  sex and sexual reproduction

8. people with the same characteristics, ideas, interests, etc

9. informal

   1. to be fired or dismissed

   2. (esp of a public performer) to be hissed at, booed, or derided

10. informal,  to tell someone rudely to depart; scoff at; hiss

11. to accomplish two things with one action

12. without resistance or difficulty

13. a (supposedly) unknown informant

    a little bird told me it was your birthday

14. informal,  deserving of disdain or contempt; not important

bird

1. Any of numerous warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals of the class Aves. Birds have wings for forelimbs, a body covered with feathers, a hard bill covering the jaw, and a four-chambered heart.

Other Word Forms

• birdless adjective
• birdlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bird¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English byrd, bryd, Old English brid(d) (Northumbrian dialect bird ) “young bird, chick”

Word History and Origins

Origin of bird¹

Old English bridd , of unknown origin

A Closer Look

It is generally believed that birds are descended from dinosaurs and probably evolved from them during the Jurassic Period. While most paleontologists believe that birds evolved from a small dinosaur called the theropod, which in turn evolved from the thecodont, a reptile from the Triassic Period, other paleontologists believe that birds and dinosaurs both evolved from the thecodont. There are some who even consider the bird to be an actual dinosaur. According to this view, the bird is an avian dinosaur, and the older dinosaur a nonavian dinosaur. Although there are variations of thought on the exact evolution of birds, the similarities between birds and dinosaurs are striking and undeniable. Small meat-eating dinosaurs and primitive birds share about twenty characteristics that neither group shares with any other kind of animal; these include tubular bones, the position of the pelvis, the shape of the shoulder blades, a wishbone-shaped collarbone, and the structure of the eggs. Dinosaurs had scales, and birds have modified scales—their feathers—and scaly feet. Some dinosaurs also may have had feathers; a recently discovered fossil of a small dinosaur indicates that it had a featherlike covering. In fact, some primitive fossil birds and small meat-eating dinosaurs are so similar that it is difficult to tell them apart based on their skeletons alone.

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. bird in the hand, a thing possessed in fact as opposed to a thing about which one speculates: Also bird in hand.

   A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

2. birds of a feather, people with interests, opinions, or backgrounds in common.

   Birds of a feather flock together.

3. for the birds, useless or worthless; not to be taken seriously.

   Their opinions on art are for the birds. That pep rally is for the birds.

4. the birds and the bees, basic information about sex and reproduction.

   It was time to talk to the boy about the birds and the bees.

5. a little bird, a secret source of information.

   A little bird told me that today is your birthday.

6. kill two birds with one stone, to achieve two aims with a single effort.

   She killed two birds with one stone by shopping and visiting the museum on the same trip.

7. eat like a bird, to eat sparingly.

   She couldn't understand why she failed to lose weight when she was, as she said, eating like a bird.

More idioms and phrases containing bird

• catbird seat
• early bird catches the worm
• eat like a bird
• for the birds
• free as a bird
• kill two birds with one stone
• little bird told me
• naked as a jaybird
• rare bird

Example Sentences

Greene scored an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Kevin Costner's 1990 epic western, where he played Kicking Bird.

From BBC

His breakthrough came in 1990 when he played Kicking Bird, a Lakota medicine man, in Dances With Wolves.

From BBC

The wide-ranging layoffs include employees working on the government's response to infectious diseases, including bird flu, as well as those researching environmental hazards and handling public record requests for information.

From BBC

"We're really seeing a sort of boom in the bird population here," says Tom Simpson of Natural England, the UK government agency responsible for protecting and improving England's natural environment.

From BBC

“We’ve always felt it’s incumbent on us to show either brand-new things or extraordinary things that make your time worth it. You know how cats will bring you a mouse? I always feel like I’m bringing you a mouse or a bird, and I just hope you’ll like it.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fowl