I. crow 1 /krəʊ $ kroʊ/ BrE AmE noun
[ Sense 1,3: Language: Old English ; Origin: crawe ]
[ Sense 2: Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ crow 2 ]
1 . [countable] a large shiny black bird with a loud cry
2 . [singular] the loud sound a ↑ cock makes
3 . as the crow flies in a straight line:
ten miles from here as the crow flies
⇨ eat crow at ↑ eat (7)
II. crow 2 BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: crawan ]
1 . if a ↑ cock crows, it makes a loud high sound
2 . to talk about what you have done in a very proud way – used to show disapproval
crow over/about
He was crowing over winning the bet.
3 . written if someone, especially a baby, crows, they make a noise that shows they are happy:
Ben rushed to his father, crowing with pleasure.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ boast to talk too proudly about your abilities, achievements, or possessions because you want other people to admire you:
She’s always boasting about how good she is at languages.
▪ brag to boast in a way that annoys other people. Brag is more informal than boast :
He was bragging about how many girlfriends he had had.
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I don’t think they have anything to brag about.
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The rebels have repeatedly bragged that their fighters have been responsible for the mounting attacks on policemen, 226 of whom were killed last year.
▪ blow your own trumpet British English , blow your own horn American English spoken to talk a lot about your achievements – used especially when you want to mention your achievements but do not want to sound as if you are boasting:
I don’t want to blow my own trumpet, but it was me who came up with the idea for the project in the first place.
▪ crow to boast about something you have achieved, when other people have been less lucky or successful:
Nordstrom and his supporters are still crowing about winning the lawsuit.
▪ gloat to behave in a way that shows that you are proud of your own success and happy about someone else’s failure:
The Australians are still gloating over their victory over England.
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The liberals are gloating and celebrating all over town.
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I haven’t come to gloat! We all have to lose sometimes.
▪ be full of yourself informal to show by your words and behaviour that you are very proud of your abilities and achievements - used when you dislike someone because of this:
‘He’s so full of himself,’ Constance complained. ‘He thinks he can get away with anything.’
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After the game she was really full of herself.