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bird

noun
/ˈbɜːd//ˈbɝd/US

Etymology

Etymology tree Old English bridd Middle English brid English bird From Middle English bird, brid, from Old English bridd (“chick, fledgling, chicken”), of uncertain origin (see Old English bridd for more). Originally from a term used of birds that could not fly (chicks, fledglings, chickens) as opposed to the general Old English term for flying birds, fugol (modern fowl). Gradually replaced fowl as the most common term starting in the 14th century. The "booing/jeering" and "vulgar hand gesture" senses derived from the expression “to give the big bird”, as in “to hiss someone like a goose”, dated in the mid‐18th century.

  1. inherited from bridd — “chick, fledgling, chicken”
  2. inherited from bird

Definitions

  1. An animal of the clade (traditionally class) Aves in the phylum Chordata, characterized…

    An animal of the clade (traditionally class) Aves in the phylum Chordata, characterized by being warm-blooded, having feathers and wings usually capable of flight, having a beaked mouth, and laying eggs.

    • Ducks and sparrows are birds.
    • The level below this is called the Phylum; birds belong to the Phylum Chordata, which includes all the vertebrate animals (the sub-phylum Vertebrata) and a few odds and ends.

  2. A chicken

    A chicken; the young of a fowl; a young eaglet; a nestling.

    • […] the foxes have holes, and the brydds of the aier have nestes, but [t]he sonne of the man hath not where onto leye his heede: […]
    • That ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird.

  3. A man, fellow.

    • He once took in his own mother, and was robbed by a 'pal,' who thought he was a doctor. Oh, he's a rare bird is 'Gentleman Joe'!
    • "What I mean - I expect that old, red-headed bird at the office sent you round with no other purpose."
    • The door opened and a tall hungry-looking bird with a cane and a big nose came in neatly, shut the door behind him against the pressure of the door closer, marched over to the desk and placed a wrapped parcel on the desk.
  4. ›+ 18 more definitions

    1. A girl or woman, especially one considered sexually attractive.

      • And by my word! the bonny bird / In danger shall not tarry.
      • After tea, the bright boys wash, clean their boots, and change into their “second-best” attire, and stroll forth[…]; sometimes to saunter, in company with others, up and down that parade until they “click” with one of the “birds.”

    2. An aircraft.

      • “Cabin cleaners? They have worked on this bird. Don't you know you've always got to clean up after the cleaners? What they don't teach you in school these days.”
      • Any of our birds squawking?

    3. A satellite.

      • Will a government- backed APSTAR satellite knock out a planned AsiaSat II bird?
      • In reality, the Air Force was never able to place a bird in orbit that quickly.

    4. Booing and jeering, especially as done by an audience expressing displeasure at a…

      Booing and jeering, especially as done by an audience expressing displeasure at a performer.

      • to give the bird

    5. The vulgar hand gesture in which the middle finger is extended.

      • to flip the bird
      • 2002, The Advocate, "Flying fickle finger of faith", page 55. For whatever reason — and there are so many to chose from — they flipped the bird in the direction of the tinted windows of the Bushmobile.
      • Then she raised both hands above her shoulders and flipped him the bird with each one.

    6. A yardbird.

    7. A kilogram of cocaine.

      • Never dirt on my knees I'm just serving these fiends Sell birds to the bees I sell birds to the trees

    8. A penis.

      • BUBBLES: One time I was making a model and I glued the wing to a B17 bomber to my bird by accident.

    9. Snowbird (retiree who moves to a warmer climate).

    10. To observe or identify wild birds in their natural environment.

    11. To catch or shoot birds

      To catch or shoot birds; to hunt birds.

    12. To seek for game or plunder

      To seek for game or plunder; to thieve.

      • MAMMON: These day-owls. SURLY: That are birding in men's purses

    13. To transmit via satellite.

      • Unless the TV crew has its own flyaway, the locals can still defeat a story they couldn't prevent reporters from covering by cutting it off at the pass, when it is being birded through their facilities.
      • After being sent by fast car to Tel Aviv the cassettes would be 'birded' by satellite to the USA and London.

    14. Able to be passed with very little work

      Able to be passed with very little work; having the nature of a bird course.

      • SOC100 isn’t bird at all lol. But ANT101 is super easy & the prof (Dr. Sherry Fukuzawa) is amazing.

    15. A prison sentence.

      • He’s doing bird.
      • Well, I’ll do my bird - I can ‘andle it, bird’s never been no trouble for me - and then I’ll get you.

    16. To bring into prison, to roof.

      • Free Criminal, he got birded That's a L but I know he’ll firm it I was vexed when I heard that verdict

    17. A surname.

    18. Nickname of Charlie Parker (1920–1955), jazz saxophonist.

The neighborhood

Derived

a bird in the hand, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, adjutant bird, a little bird told me, American bird grasshopper, antbird, antibird, apostlebird, Baltimore bird, banana bird, band birds, barley-bird, beach birds, beambird, bellbird, bill bird, bill-bird, birdaholic, bird aircraft strike hazard, bird-alane, bird app, birdback, bird ball, birdbander, birdbath, bird bath, birdbeak dogfish, bird bird, birdbolt, birdbox, birdbrain, bird brain, birdbrained, bird-brained, bird breeder's lung, bird burst, birdcage, bird-cage, birdcage clock, birdcall · +506 more

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at bird. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01bird02nestling03receptacle04pedicel05fungus06fungi07chicken

A definitional loop anchored at bird. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at bird

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA