BIRD


Meaning of BIRD in English

— birdless , adj.

/berrd/ , n.

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.

a. See clay pigeon .

b. a shuttlecock.

4. Slang. a person, esp. one having some peculiarity: He's a queer bird.

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

6. Cookery. 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 Brit. Slang. a girl or young woman.

9. Archaic. the young of any fowl.

10. a little bird , Informal. a secret source of information: A little bird told me that today is your birthday.

11. bird in the hand , a thing possessed in fact as opposed to a thing about which one speculates: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Also, bird in hand .

12. birds of a feather , people with interests, opinions, or backgrounds in common: Birds of a feather flock together.

13. 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.

14. for the birds , Slang. useless or worthless; not to be taken seriously: Their opinions on art are for the birds. That pep rally is for the birds.

15. 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.

16. the bird , Slang.

a. disapproval, as of a performance, by hissing, booing, etc.: He got the bird when he came out on stage.

b. scoffing or ridicule: He was trying to be serious, but we all gave him the bird.

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

17. 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.

v.i.

18. to catch or shoot birds.

19. to bird-watch.

[ bef. 900; ME byrd, bryd, OE brid ( d ) young bird, chick ]

Random House Webster's Unabridged English dictionary.      Полный английский словарь Вебстер - Random House .