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单词 bird
释义

birdn.

Brit. /bəːd/, U.S. /bərd/
Forms: Old English (Northumbrian) Middle English– bird, Old English–Middle English brid, Old English–Middle English bridd, late Old English brydd (Kentish), Middle English bordys (plural), Middle English bred, Middle English bredd, Middle English brede, Middle English bridde, Middle English bryde, Middle English–1500s berd, Middle English–1500s bryd, Middle English–1500s brydde, Middle English–1500s burd, Middle English–1500s burde, Middle English–1600s birde, Middle English–1600s byrd, Middle English–1600s byrde, 1500s bourde; also English regional 1800s– brid (midlands and northern); Scottish pre-1700 berd, pre-1700 birde, pre-1700 byrd, pre-1700 byrde, pre-1700 1700s– bird, pre-1700 1700s– burd, pre-1700 (2000s– rare) buird, 1900s bord (Shetland); also Irish English (northern) 1900s– bord, 1900s– burd.
Origin: Of unknown origin.
Etymology: Origin unknown. There is no corresponding form in any other Germanic language.Suggested etymologies. Attempts to derive the word from the Germanic bases of brood n. or breed v. fail to account for the stem vowel. A suggestion that the word shows a derivative formation from a base derived from that of bear v.1 does not raise such insuperable formal problems, but still encounters some difficulties: it demands that the Old English forms with bri- must show the result of metathesis (rather than being original, with the forms with bir- being developed from these by metathesis, as seems much more likely from the historical record and from the general tendencies shown by metathesis in Old English); it also envisages considerable semantic narrowing (from supposed more general use denoting offspring), which seems unlikely in view of the lack of any evidence for cognate forms in other Germanic languages. (If this etymology were true, birde n. and probably also birth n.1 would be related, albeit rather distantly. The consistent occurrence of the stem-vowel i in early use rules out origin as a variant of either of these words.) It has been suggested that the gemination of the final consonant shown by the usual Old English form bridd may show expressive (probably hypocoristic) gemination comparable to that probably shown by dog n.1 and similar words, but it is more likely that it results from the regular influence of the stem-forming suffix (as suggested also by the strong inflection of the word). Semantic development. The uses at sense 2 appear to show extension to the offspring of other animals regarded as analogous with the nestlings of birds (and hence yield little direct support for the hypothesis that the word narrowed from an earlier broader meaning, as suggested by a derivation from bear v.1). Uses transferred to human offspring at sense 9 (and perhaps also at sense 8) were very likely influenced by association with birde n. 2, with which there is considerable formal overlap in Middle English, making it impossible in many instances to be certain which word is being used. Use denoting adult birds. The broadening in meaning to all birds irrespective of age shown by sense 3 is not attested in Old English, and appears to have occurred within the Middle English period. Although it is plausible that the development from sense 1 was via application initially to smaller types of birds, already in the Middle English period the word occurs applied to all manner of birds, both small and large, domestic and wild. Bird and fowl are thus largely synonyms in Middle English, although there may be some tendency to apply fowl especially to wild birds. However, later observers have sometimes noted a distinction between bird applied to smaller birds and fowl to larger ones, as e.g. Johnson (1755, at bird ) ‘In common talk fowl is used for the larger, and bird for the smaller kind of feathered animals’. N.E.D. (1887) observed: ‘In Scotland large birds e.g. hawks, herons, are fowls, small birds, as well as chickens, are birds.’ (This distinction is not noted in Sc. National Dict.) See fowl n. for discussion of the processes of semantic narrowing and specialization shown by that word. N.E.D. (1887) also noted: ‘A further process of specialization (cf. the histories of fowl, deer, beast), seems still to be in progress in regard to bird, as witness its technical use by game-preservers.’ However, to the extent that it survives, sense 5 is now normally apprehended simply as a contextual (and very minor) use of the broader and conventional sense 3.
I. A young bird, a chick, and related senses.
1. A nestling or fledgling; a chick; a young bird (see sense 3). Now rare or disused.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > young bird > [noun]
birdOE
chicka1398
chickena1398
brancher?a1400
pulla1500
birdling1611
puler1611
pullus1653
squeaker1654
birdeen1829
chicklet1836
baby bird1841
chirpling1888
OE West Saxon Gospels: Luke (Corpus Cambr.) ii. 24 Hig offrunge sealdon.., twa turtlan, oððe twegen culfran briddas [c1200 Hatton culfran briddes, OE Lindisf. Gospels birdas culfras; L. pullos columbarum].
OE Byrhtferð Enchiridion (Ashm.) (1995) ii. i. 68 Oft seo brodige henn..tospræt hyre fyðera and þa briddas gewyrmð.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1260 Cullfre..fedeþþ oþerr cullfress bridd All alls itt wære hire aȝhenn.
a1200 MS Trin. Cambr. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 49 Duue..fedeð briddes þeh hie ne ben noht hire.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) l. 3673 Wanne hor briddes rype beþ.
a1400 Psalter (Vesp.) lxxxiii. 3 in C. Horstmann Yorkshire Writers (1896) II. 217 Ilka sparw Findes him hous..And þe turtil to him a neste, Þar he mai with his briddes [Wycliffite, E.V. a1382 Douce 369(1) briddis; a1425 L.V. bryddis] reste.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection i. sig. Dvv He..cherissheth vs, as the egle her byrdes.
1592 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) viii. xli. 179 The Pellicane theare neasts his Bird.
1721 J. Kelly Compl. Coll. Scotish Prov. 381 You have gotten Butter in a Burd [note: When you was a Chicken]. Spoken to one that sings, speaks, or calls with a loud Voice.
1823 J. Galt Entail II. xxix. 277 The craw thinks its ain bird the whitest.
1932 Trans. 19th Amer. Game Conf. (Amer. Game Assoc.) 286 The hen [grouse] with her ten birds and the one with her six were moved from the mating pen as soon as they hatched.
†2. The offspring or young of other animals. Obsolete (Scottish in later use).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > family unit > [noun] > offspring or young
kindle?c1225
kitlinga1300
child1340
chita1382
birda1398
younga1398
kitten1495
baby1659
piccaninny1824
kit1957
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. xiii. xxvi. 678 Al fysshe fediþ and kepith here owne briddes outetake frogges.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Matt. xxiii. 33 Ȝe eddris, and eddris briddis.
a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 17 A serpent had made his nest..And broȝt forth his briddis þere.
1591 R. Bruce Serm. Edinb. sig. Y8 They wald ever be handled as Tods birds.
1597 in Lawes & Actes Parl. Scotl. 17 (heading) The Woolfe and Woolfe-birdes suld be slaine.
1880 W. T. Dennison Orcadian Sketch-bk. 49 The peur mither selkie rowed hersel' ower the face o' de rock i'tae the sea; bit her twa birds hed no' wit tae flee.
1916 J. Mowat Caithness Proverbs 7 ‘Lek 'e tod's burd, auler 'e waar’—like the young of the fox, the older the more cunning it grows.
II. A bird (irrespective of age), and extended senses.
3. An animal of the vertebrate class Aves, the members of which are warmblooded and oviparous and are distinguished by feathers, a toothless beaked jaw, and modification of the forelimbs as wings. In early use also: †a flying insect (obsolete rare). Sometimes used specifically for small birds as distinguished from large ones called fowls. Cf. quot. 1755.blackbird, hummingbird, mockingbird, etc.: see the first element.In various regions the word bird can be used by hunters or shooters to refer to a particular species or type of bird. In Britain the term has been used to refer specifically to partridge (see e.g. quot. 1877), in the southern United States to quail (see e.g. quot. 1929), and in Newfoundland to seabirds (see e.g. quot. 1940).Birds evolved from a group of small theropod dinosaurs. There are two superorders of birds, Palaeognathae (the flightless land birds and tinamous), and Neognathae (the majority of living birds). Birds are further characterized by having a strong lightweight skeleton which allows for flight. Most birds use their wings to fly through the air, although some flightless aquatic birds such as penguins use them for moving through the water. The only birds without wings are the extinct moa and elephant bird.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > [noun] > bird
fowlOE
bird?c1225
wing1601
feathera1616
feather-monger1767
feathered friend1933
the world > animals > birds > wild or domestic birds > [noun] > game-bird
fowl of game1671
game fowl1716
game bird1770
game1850
bird1877
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Perdix (partridge)
partridgec1300
rowen1575
rowen partridge1603
perdix1609
rowen-tail1686
peckle-head1688
bird1877
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 107 Þeos briddes habbeð nestes.
c1325 in R. H. Robbins Secular Lyrics 14th & 15th Cent. (1952) 146 Bryd one brere, brid, brid one brere..blid-ful [emended in ed. to blið-ful] biryd on me þu rewe.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xxviii. 223 Among briddes and foules þe popyniay and þe bellican vsiþ þe foot in stede of hoond.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Ecclus. xi. 3 A bee is litil among briddis [E.V. a1382 Douce 369(1) foules; L. volatilibus].
c1475 (?c1451) Bk. Noblesse (Royal) (1860) 59 Fabius..did gret diligence to lerne and know by augures and divinacions of briddis.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Matt. viii. f. x The bryddes of the aier have nestes.
1631 T. Powell Tom of All Trades 166 As free as bird in ayre.
1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) In common talk, fowl is used for the larger, and bird for the smaller kind of feathered animals.
1877 Daily News 1 Oct. 5/1 It is impossible to avoid admiring the bird—for although the partridge has usurped the designation, after all the pheasant is a bird—which can inspire such masterpieces of felonious skill.
1893 T. R. R. Stebbing Hist. Crustacea i. 1 The Vertebrata, with the important classes of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
1929 W. Faulkner Sartoris (1951) iv. iv. 330 He and Buddy tried for birds in the skeletoned fields in the rain.., or tried the stagnant backwaters along the river channel for duck and geese.
1940 A. R. Scammell Songs of Newfoundler 25 We're only 'lowed to kill a bird up to the middle o' May.
1970 Evolution 24 448/1 Modern birds also show certain features in their anatomy that justifies their description as ‘feathered reptiles’.
2016 BBC Wildlife Aug. 15/1 Like many birds, zebra finches learn their songs, at least in part, from their parents.
4. A bird, (now) esp. a roast chicken or turkey, eaten as food; the meat of a bird.
ΚΠ
?c1425 Recipe in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Arun. 334) (1790) 425 (MED) Do therto smale briddes, and seth hom.
c1450 (?a1370) Wynnere & Wastoure (1990) l. 348 Birdes bownn one a broche riche..Larkes and lyngwhittes lapped in sogoure.
1709 T. Hall Queen's Royal Cookery 13 Take out the Pot and the Birds out of it, and wipe them very dry.
1827 P. Cunningham Two Years New S. Wales II. i. 21 One bird roasting aristocratically upon a wooden spit, and the other, broiling vulgar-wise, upon the embers.
1998 N. Lawson How to Eat (1999) 63 Baste regularly throughout the cooking time, and turn the bird the right way up for the last half hour of cooking to brown.
2015 N.Y. Mag. 7 Sept. 80/2 Fried shallots, tomatoes, and generous chunks of free-range bird.
†5. figurative. A person who is preyed on; a person who is the target of an attack. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > intention > [noun] > intention or purpose > end, purpose, or object > goal or target
markc1275
lodestarc1374
aimc1400
mete1402
pricka1450
butta1522
level1525
white marka1533
goal1540
Jack-a-Lent1553
blankc1557
scope1562
period1590
upshot1591
bird1592
golden goal1597
nick1602
quarry1615
North Star1639
huba1657
fair game1690
endgame1938
target1942
cockshot1995
1592 R. Greene Blacke Bookes Messenger sig. A4 The foole that is caught, the Bird.
1608 T. Dekker Lanthorne & Candle-light sig. F1v The Bird that is preid vpon, is Money.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Taming of Shrew (1623) v. ii. 48 Am I your Bird, I meane to shift my bush. View more context for this quotation
1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle's Log II. iv. 161 The lieutenant..was my bird, and I had disabled him by a sabre-cut.
6. Badminton. A shuttlecock. Cf. birdie n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > racket games > battledore or badminton > [noun] > shuttlecock
shuttlecocka1529
shuttlea1591
shuttle-corka1627
bird1890
birdie1926
1890 Sunday Herald (Syracuse, N.Y.) 23 Mar. 7/7 In judging whether a player has reached over the net, it is always noticed if the ‘bird’ is struck before it has crossed the net and merely been followed over by the racquet of the player.
1926 Winnipeg Evening Tribune 5 Mar. (Home ed.) 14/5 Except when making ‘drop’ shots that just tumble over the net, there are very few gentle pats administered to the bird during a game.
2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 15 Aug. viii. 15/4 Wind is the enemy of the bird, as Mr. Clement calls the feathered projectile whacked by the racket.
7.
a. slang (chiefly Military). A vehicle designed to travel through the air; an aircraft; esp. an aeroplane or helicopter.Earliest in figurative contexts.See also big-assed bird n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > [noun] > an aircraft or spacecraft
craft1838
bird1907
1907 Democrat & Chron. (Rochester, N.Y.) 13 Aug. 8/2 Whether..a mechanical bird big and strong enough to support human weight is a possible discovery, is a question upon which scientific opinion is much..divided.
1918 S. S. Clark Let. 17 Aug. in C. T. Clark & S. S. Clark Soldier Lett. (1919) 155 The watch sighted a ‘bird’. We were told to sit down and keep quiet.
1958 Air Force Mag. Sept. 67/3 Mention this bird to the tower chopper pilots and they react like thirsty nomads at a desert oasis.
2010 S. Junger War iii. vi. 262 The bird rises up and pounds off to the west, dropping fast off the ridge and then carving back northward.
b. slang. Any projectile or device designed to travel through air or space, such as a missile, rocket, satellite, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impelling or driving > projecting through space or throwing > [noun] > throwing missiles > a projectile
cast1556
projectile1654
missile1656
forthcast1674
trajectile1860
trajectory1861
bird1913
1913 Y. Stirling U.S. Midshipman in Philippines i. 13 A few brace of hot ten-inch birds, exploding near them..soon made 'em change their minds.
1948 Ga. Rev. 2 205 These birds had their flaws—the main one being the difficulty of predicting the point of impact.
1962 A. Shepard in J. Glenn et al. Into Orbit 100 I really enjoy looking at a bird that is getting ready to go.
2002 Satellite News (Nexis) 15 Apr. Once launched, the bird will be co-located at 4 degrees West longitude with the company's first satellite, AMOS 1.
III. Senses referring to a person.
†8. A wretch; a fiend. Chiefly in terms of disparagement, as in bird of hell, devil's bird, etc. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [noun] > baseness or moral vileness > person
wretchOE
filthOE
birdc1300
villain1303
caitiffc1330
crachouna1400
crathona1400
custronc1400
sloven?a1475
smaik?1507
rook?a1513
scavenger1563
scald1575
peasant1581
scaba1592
bezonian1592
slave1592
patchcock1596
muckworm1649
blackguard1732
ramscallion1734
nasty1825
cad1838
boundera1889
three-letter man1929
c1300 Judas Iscariot (Harl.) l. 1 in F. J. Furnivall Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 107 Iudas was a liþer brid þat ihesu solde to Rode.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 22381 Þe Anticrist..þat ilk warlau bridd [Fairf. warlagh brid, Trin. Cambr. þulke fendes brid].
a1500 Rev. Methodius in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1918) 33 178 (MED) Þan xall cum..Antecryst, þe deuelys byrde.
1571 in J. G. Dalyell Scotish Poems 16th Cent. (1801) II. 280 Thea dispard birds of Beliall.
1578 J. Rolland Seuin Seages 52 Better thow had not spokin, condampnit Deuillis byrd.
1824 J. Hogg Private Mem. Justified Sinner 330 Ye ditit, donnart, deil's burd that ye be!
†9. A son or daughter; a child. Cf. branch I. Obsolete except in whore's bird n. at whore n. Compounds 2.Frequently difficult to distinguish from birde n. 2, which probably influenced the development of this sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > young person > [noun]
youngeOE
younglingOE
girlc1300
youtha1325
young onec1384
birdc1405
young person1438
young blood1557
primrosea1568
slip1582
juvenal1598
quat1607
airling1611
egga1616
saplinga1616
chita1657
a slip of a girla1660
juvenile1733
young adult1762
boots1806
snip1838
spring chicken1857
yob1859
kid1884
chiseller1922
juvenile adult1926
YA1974
yoof1986
the world > people > person > child > [noun]
wenchelc890
childeOE
littleOE
littlingOE
hired-childc1275
smalla1300
brolla1325
innocentc1325
chickc1330
congeonc1330
impc1380
faunt1382
young onec1384
scionc1390
weea1400
birdc1405
chickenc1440
enfaunta1475
small boyc1475
whelp1483
burden1490
little one1509
brat?a1513
younkerkin1528
kitling1541
urchin1556
loneling1579
breed1586
budling1587
pledge?1587
ragazzo1591
simplicity1592
bantling1593
tadpole1594
two-year-old1594
bratcheta1600
lambkin1600
younker1601
dandling1611
buda1616
eyas-musketa1616
dovelinga1618
whelplinga1618
puppet1623
butter printa1625
chit1625
piggy1625
ninnyc1626
youngster1633
fairya1635
lap-child1655
chitterling1675
squeaker1676
cherub1680
kid1690
wean1692
kinchin1699
getlingc1700
totum17..
charity-child1723
small girl1734
poult1739
elfin1748
piggy-wiggy1766
piccaninny1774
suck-thumb18..
teeny1802
olive1803
sprout1813
stumpie1820
sexennarian1821
totty1822
toddle1825
toddles1828
poppet1830
brancher1833
toad1836
toddler1837
ankle-biter1840
yarkera1842
twopenny1844
weeny1844
tottykins1849
toddlekins1852
brattock1858
nipper1859
sprat1860
ninepins1862
angelet1868
tenas man1870
tad1877
tacker1885
chavvy1886
joey1887
toddleskin1890
thumb-sucker1891
littlie1893
peewee1894
tyke1894
che-ild1896
kiddo1896
mother's bairn1896
childling1903
kipper1905
pick1905
small1907
God forbid1909
preadolescent1909
subadolescent1914
toto1914
snookums1919
tweenie1919
problem child1920
squirt1924
trottie1924
tiddler1927
subteen1929
perisher1935
poopsie1937
pre-schooler1937
pre-teen1938
pre-teener1940
juvie1941
sprog1944
pikkie1945
subteenager1947
pre-teenager1948
pint-size1954
saucepan lid1960
rug rat1964
smallie1984
bosom-child-
c1405 (?c1375–90) G. Chaucer Monk's Tale (Hengwrt) (1872) l. 3604 In prison..with hym been hise litel children thre..it was greet crueltee Swiche briddes for to putte in swich a cage.
a1500 (?c1300) Amis & Amiloun (Douce) (1937) l. 15 The berdes [a1400 Egerton Þe children bold of chere].
1559 Certayne Serm. (new ed.) Good Works ii, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) i. 54 The corrupt inclination of man, was so given to follow his own phantasie, and (as you woulde saye) to fauoure his owne byrde, that he brought up himself.
1566 J. Knox Hist. Reformation in Wks. (1846) I. 125 His bastard byrdis bear some witness.
1609 in Select. Extracts Anc. Minutes Kirk-session of Kinghorn (1863) 15 Calling ewerie ane of thame ane uther theifis, lowns, and witchis burd.
10. As a term of endearment or affectionate form of address. Cf. chick n.1 2, hen n.1 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > terms of endearment > [noun]
darlingc888
belamy?c1225
culver?c1225
dearc1230
sweetheartc1290
heartc1300
sweetc1330
honeya1375
dovec1386
jewelc1400
birdc1405
cinnamonc1405
honeycombc1405
lovec1405
wantonc1450
mulling?a1475
daisyc1485
crowdy-mowdy?a1513
honeysop?a1513
powsowdie?a1513
suckler?a1513
foolc1525
buttinga1529
whitinga1529
beautiful1534
turtle-dove1535
soula1538
heartikin1540
bully?1548
turtle1548
lamba1556
nyletc1557
sweet-lovea1560
coz1563
ding-ding1564
pugs1566
golpol1568
sparling1570
lover1573
pug1580
bulkin1582
mopsy1582
chuck1589
bonny1594
chick1594
sweetikin1596
ladybird1597
angel1598
muss1598
pinkany1599
sweetkin1599
duck1600
joy1600
sparrowc1600
sucket1605
nutting1606
chuckaby1607
tickling1607
bagpudding1608
heartling1608
chucking1609
dainty1611
flittermouse1612
honeysuckle1613
fubs1614
bawcocka1616
pretty1616
old thinga1625
bun1627
duckling1630
bulchin1633
bulch?c1640
sweetling1648
friscoa1652
ding-dongs1662
buntinga1668
cocky1680
dearie1681
chucky1683
lovey1684
machree1689
nykin1693
pinkaninny1696
nug1699
hinny1724
puss1753
pet1767
dovey1769
sweetie1778
lovey-dovey1781
lovely1791
ducky1819
toy1822
acushla1825
alanna1825
treat1825
amigo1830
honey child1832
macushla1834
cabbage1840
honey-bunch1874
angel pie1878
m'dear1887
bach1889
honey baby1895
prawn1895
hon1896
so-and-so1897
cariad1899
pumpkin1900
honey-bun1902
pussums1912
snookums1919
treasure1920
wogger1922
amico1929
sugar1930
baby cake1949
angel cake1951
lamb-chop1962
petal1974
bae2006
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (1870) l. 3726 Lemman thy grace and swete bryd thyn oore.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (1870) l. 3699 What do ye hony comb, swete Alisoun My faire bryd, my swete cynamone.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) iv. i. 184 Prosp. This was well done (my bird ). View more context for this quotation
1867 Eclectic Mag. Jan. 107/1 As to the account of your marriage, ah, my dear little bird, will you never be serious?
1880 W. T. Dennison Orcadian Sketch-bk. 115 O tak' the Bible, Kitto, burd!
1960 A. White tr. Colette Claudine Married (1983) v. 60 ‘Is she unfaithful to him?’ ‘My darling bird [Fr. Mon oiseau chéri], how on earth should I know?’
1986 J. Downes Dict. Devon Dial. 54/1 Bird, burd, a form of endearment, form of address between persons of either sex ‘Mornin my burd!’
11. colloquial. A person, typically a man; a chap, a guy.Frequently with modifying word, as in queer bird, downy bird (cf. downy adj.3); see also old bird n., railbird n.2 2, rare bird n., shit-bird n., yardbird n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > man > [noun]
churla800
werec900
rinkeOE
wapmanc950
heOE
wyeOE
gomeOE
ledeOE
seggeOE
shalkOE
manOE
carmanlOE
mother bairnc1225
hemea1250
mother sona1250
hind1297
buck1303
mister mana1325
piecec1325
groomc1330
man of mouldc1330
hathela1350
sire1362
malea1382
fellowa1393
guestc1394
sergeant?a1400
tailarda1400
tulka1400
harlotc1405
mother's sona1470
frekea1475
her1488
masculinea1500
gentlemana1513
horse?a1513
mutton?a1513
merchant1549
child1551
dick1553
sorrya1555
knavea1556
dandiprat1556
cove1567
rat1571
manling1573
bird1575
stone-horse1580
loona1586
shaver1592
slave1592
copemate1593
tit1594
dog1597
hima1599
prick1598
dingle-dangle1605
jade1608
dildoa1616
Roger1631
Johnny1648
boy1651
cod1653
cully1676
son of a bitch1697
cull1698
feller1699
chap1704
buff1708
son of a gun1708
buffer1749
codger1750
Mr1753
he-man1758
fella1778
gilla1790
gloak1795
joker1811
gory1819
covey1821
chappie1822
Charley1825
hombre1832
brother-man1839
rooster1840
blokie1841
hoss1843
Joe1846
guy1847
plug1848
chal1851
rye1851
omee1859
bloke1861
guffin1862
gadgie1865
mug1865
kerel1873
stiff1882
snoozer1884
geezer1885
josser1886
dude1895
gazabo1896
jasper1896
prairie dog1897
sport1897
crow-eater1899
papa1903
gink1906
stud1909
scout1912
head1913
beezer1914
jeff1917
pisser1918
bimbo1919
bozo1920
gee1921
mush1936
rye mush1936
basher1942
okie1943
mugger1945
cat1946
ou1949
tess1952
oke1970
bra1974
muzhik1993
1575 J. Awdely Fraternitye of Vacabondes (new ed.) sig. A.ijv A Quire bird is one that came lately out of prison.
1601 A. Munday & H. Chettle Death Earle of Huntington sig. E4 And for a dooer, cosin take my word, Looke for a good egge, he was a good bird: Cocke a the game ifaith.
c1799 Miss Rose in G. Rose Diaries (1860) I. 212 There were strange birds getting about my father, and pecking his brains.
1852 C. A. Bristed Upper Ten Thousand vi. 128 The same reason..kept Mr. Simpson, and other ‘birds’ of his set, out of the exclusive society.
1853 ‘C. Bede’ Adventures Mr. Verdant Green vi. 47 I suppose the old bird was your governor.
1873 M. E. Braddon Strangers & Pilgrims iii. v. 20 Hilda, you're the downiest bird—I beg your pardon, the cleverest woman I ever met with.
a1885 ‘H. Conway’ Living or Dead (1886) I. vii. 127 After all, Philip,..your father must be a queer bird—excuse slang, mother.
1930 E. Pound Draft of XXX Cantos xi. 49 And that gay bird Piero della Bella.
1970 W. Cline in M. C. Boatright & W. A. Owens Tales from Derrick Floor vii. 124 I'll bet you birds a hundred dollars apiece that there'll be more flies land on my bread before we get through eating than there is on yours.
1996 P. Gosling Dead of Winter 241 He's a funny bird, really. Nice but..odd.
12. slang. A prisoner; a habitual offender. Frequently with modifying word. Cf. sense 19. Now rare except in jail-bird n.Recorded earliest in Newgate bird n. See also bridewell bird n., canary bird n. 2, prison-bird n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prisoner > [noun]
prisona1225
prisonerc1384
enpresonéc1425
bird1580
warder1584
canary bird1593
penitentiala1633
convict1786
chum1819
lag1819
lagger1819
new chum1819
nut-brown1835
collegian1837
canary1840
Sydney duck1873
forty1879
zebra1882
con1893
yardbird1956
zek1968
1580 A. Munday Paine of Pleasure f. 21v The Cownter is a cruell Cage, but ware a Newgate Birde.
1606 T. Dekker Seuen Deadly Sinnes London i. sig. Bv It was a bird pickt out of purpose (amongst the Ludgathians) that had the basest and lowest voice, and was able in a Terme time, for a throat, to giue any prisoner great ods for ye box at the grate.
1888 Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago) 7 Apr. i. 1/7 His indorsements as to character will come from a number of unjailed penitentiary birds.
1908 Truth 2 May 1 The ‘Harmy’ [sc. Salvation Army] always hangs around ‘Prison Gates’ to get hold of discharged ‘birds’ to give them a helping hand.
1924 Amer. Printer 20 July 49/3 He had a long criminal record and was one of the birds in Sing Sing.
1954 J. H. Audett Rap Sheet xx. 239 ‘Is this a sample of the brew them birds was making back in the kitchen?’ the deputy asked.
13. colloquial (now chiefly British). A young woman; a person's girlfriend. Cf. chick n.1 3, birdie n. 1a, birdeen n. 2.Chiefly used by men.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > woman > [noun]
wifeeOE
womaneOE
womanOE
queanOE
brideOE
viragoc1000
to wifeOE
burdc1225
ladyc1225
carlinec1375
stotc1386
marec1387
pigsneyc1390
fellowa1393
piecec1400
femalea1425
goddessa1450
fairc1450
womankindc1450
fellowessa1500
femininea1513
tega1529
sister?1532
minikinc1540
wyec1540
placket1547
pig's eye1553
hen?1555
ware1558
pussy?a1560
jade1560
feme1566
gentlewoman1567
mort1567
pinnacea1568
jug1569
rowen1575
tarleather1575
mumps1576
skirt1578
piga1586
rib?1590
puppy1592
smock1592
maness1594
sloy1596
Madonna1602
moll1604
periwinkle1604
Partlet1607
rib of man1609
womanship?1609
modicum1611
Gypsy1612
petticoata1616
runniona1616
birda1627
lucky1629
she-man1640
her1646
lost rib1647
uptails1671
cow1696
tittup1696
cummer17..
wife1702
she-woman1703
person1704
molly1706
fusby1707
goody1708
riding hood1718
birdie1720
faggot1722
piece of goods1727
woman body1771
she-male1776
biddy1785
bitch1785
covess1789
gin1790
pintail1792
buer1807
femme1814
bibi1816
Judy1819
a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823
wifie1823
craft1829
shickster?1834
heifer1835
mot1837
tit1837
Sitt1838
strap1842
hay-bag1851
bint1855
popsy1855
tart1864
woman's woman1868
to deliver the goods1870
chapess1871
Dona1874
girl1878
ladykind1878
mivvy1881
dudess1883
dudette1883
dudine1883
tid1888
totty1890
tootsy1895
floozy1899
dame1902
jane1906
Tom1906
frail1908
bit of stuff1909
quim1909
babe1911
broad1914
muff1914
manhole1916
number1919
rossie1922
bit1923
man's woman1928
scupper1935
split1935
rye mort1936
totsy1938
leg1939
skinny1941
Richard1950
potato1957
scow1960
wimmin1975
womyn1975
womxn1991
a1627 T. Middleton No Wit (1657) i. 21 This Bird's my own.
1848 ‘N. Buntline’ Mysteries & Miseries N.Y. i. v. 45 This must be something great, eh? Sixteen, pure, green... I must see the bird.
1915 P. MacGill Amateur Army v. 62 There's another bird there—and cawfee!
1935 ‘G. Orwell’ Clergyman's Daughter ii. 161 He kept a sharp eye open for the ‘birds’.
1960 News Chron. 16 Feb. 6 Hundreds more geezers were taking their birds to ‘The Hostage’ and ‘Make me an Offer’.
1995 S. Nye Best of Men behaving Badly (2000) 4th Ser. Episode 5. 143/2 Do they think all blokes can talk about is booze, birds and football?
2004 M. Jeschke Inklings iii. 44 Isn't he engaged to some brilliant bird he met at Cambridge?
14. U.S. Military slang. A full colonel, as distinct from a lieutenant colonel; the rank of colonel. Frequently in to make bird: to attain the rank of colonel. Also in full bird. Cf. bird colonel n. [With allusion to the eagle insignia worn on each shoulder as an indication of rank.]
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer by rank > [noun] > colonel
colonel1548
lieutenant-colonel1616
col1707
chicken colonel1942
bird colonel1945
light colonel1950
bird1955
1955 T. Williams Ceremony of Love v. 97 I believe I was a colonel that night. Not a full bird, but a silver oak leaf.
1959 H. Searls Big X 186 I'm just a light colonel, but I'd like to make bird some day.
1973 Harper's Mag. Apr. 43/3 Officers were required to put in an average of only 4.2 months, just long enough to have combat command on their records and win their birds.
1980 D. E. McQuinn Targets (1983) v. 42 He's up for Colonel in two years. He'd cover for Hitler to make full bird.
1984 R. Riggan Free Fire Zone viii. 140 All the birds and generals and secret service men in the president's entourage swooped down on Mathias.
2000 T. Clancy Bear & Dragon l. 767 TRW hired me away before I made bird.
IV. In various slang or specialist uses.
15. A source of information whose identity the speaker chooses to keep secret. Usually used playfully in little bird, as in a little bird told me. Cf. a little birdie at birdie n. Phrases 1.See also to hear a bird sing at sing v.1 10d.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > action of informing > [noun] > person who > private or special
bird1546
relator1607
a little birdie1881
tipster1884
one's spies1955
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. v. sig. Hiii I dyd lately here..By one byrd, that in myne eare was late chauntyng.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 v. v. 105 We beare our ciuil swords..As farre as France, I heard a bird so sing. View more context for this quotation
1711 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 23 May (1948) I. 277 You quarrelled this morning..: I heard the little bird say so.
1853 C. Brontë Villette III. xxxi. 47 ‘Who told you I was called Carl David?’ ‘A little bird, monsieur.’
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch III. vi. lix. 314 I know all about it. I have a confidential little bird.
1923 Humorist 29 Dec. 560/2 The mother said nothing about the letter, but took refuge in the ancient ‘A little bird whispered to me.’
1959 G. D. Painter Marcel Proust I. xi. 181 A little bird..informed the society columnist of Le Gaulois.
2003 S. Mackay Heligoland (2004) ii. 19 Come on then, girlie, let's go home for tea. A little bird told me that there will be scones and jam.
16.
a. slang (originally Theatre). With the. An instance of hissing or otherwise expressing one's dissatisfaction with a performer (more fully the big bird). Frequently in to get the (big) bird: (of a performer, performance, etc.) to be hissed by the audience, to be poorly received; (hence more generally) to be dismissed or rejected; to be an object of mockery or contempt. Similarly in to give (a person) the bird. Cf. goose n. 1g.Not common in North American usage.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > [noun] > audience reaction
exsibilation1640
call1754
encore1763
goose1805
the big bird1825
recall1851
curtain1884
curtain-call1884
slow burn1936
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > perform [verb (transitive)] > audience reaction
explose?c1550
explode1563
exsibilate1601
be-Roscius1774
to get the (big) bird1825
goose1838
sibilate1864
bird1927
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > [noun] > expression of disapproval > by sounds or exclamations
hootinga1225
hissingc1384
fie?1550
acclamation1602
hiss1602
hoot1612
catcall1749
catcallingc1781
scraping1785
sibilation1822
the big bird1825
boo hoo1825
booing1830
Kentish fire1834
boo-hooing1865
boo1884
slow handclap1904
tutting1929
slow handclapping1932
slow clap1937
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > disapprove of [verb (transitive)] > express disapproval of > by sound or exclamation
hootc1175
to clap out1550
explose?c1550
explode1563
hiss1598
exsibilate1601
to hum up, down1642
out-hiss1647
chuckle1681
catcall1700
scrape1773
groan1799
to get the (big) bird1825
boo1833
fie-fie1836
goose1838
sibilate1864
cluck1916
bird1927
slow handclap1949
tsk-tsk1966
tut1972
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > disapprove [verb (intransitive)] > be hissed
to get the (big) bird1864
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > perform [verb (intransitive)] > be hissed
to get the (big) bird1864
society > occupation and work > lack of work > [verb (intransitive)] > dismiss or discharge > be dismissed or discharged
to get the bag1804
to get the sack1825
swap1862
to get the boot1888
to take a walk1888
to get the run1889
to get (or have) the swap1890
to get the (big) bird1924
to get one's jotters1944
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > causing to go away > command to go away [verb (transitive)] > send away or dismiss > unceremoniously
to send packingc1450
trussa1500
to go (send, etc.) away with a flea in one's ear1577
to set packing1577
pack1589
ship1594
to send away with a fly in one's ear1606
to give a packing penny to1609
to pack off1693
to cut (also slip) the painter1699
to send about one's business1728
trundle1794
to send to the right about (also rightabouts)1816
bundle1823
to give the bucket to1863
shake1872
to give (a person) the finger1874
to give (a person) the pushc1886
to give (someone or something) the chuck1888
to give (someone) the gate1918
to get the (big) bird1924
to tie a can to (or on)1926
to give (a person) (his or her) running shoes1938
to give (someone) the Lonsdale1958
1825 P. Egan Life of Actor p. xii The end of their folly marked by the attacks of the big birds (geese) driving them off the stage.
1864 J. C. Hotten Slang Dict. (new ed.) (at cited word) ‘To get the big-bird’, i.e. to be hissed, as actors occasionally are by the ‘gods’.
1884 in J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era (1909) (at cited word) Professor Grant, Q.C., had both ‘the bird’ and ‘the needle’ at the Royal on Monday.
1924 J. Galsworthy White Monkey 56 Mr. Danby had ‘given him the bird’.
1927 Daily Express 4 Feb. 6/4 Britons in Hollywood will get what is locally known as the ‘razzberry’, which may be translated as ‘the bird’.
1957 P. Kemp Mine were of Trouble iii. 35 She gave him the bird—finally and for good. So he came to Spain to forget his broken heart.
1992 Sports Q. Winter 50/1 Poor Ralph Keyes, the fly-half, was given the bird for some poor kicking.
2006 Financial Times 26 May 13/1 Sofia Coppola's eagerly awaited Marie Antoinette..got the bird from a packed press-show audience.
b. slang (originally U.S.). With the. An obscene gesture of contempt made by raising one's middle finger with the back of the hand outwards and the fist closed. Usually with the verbs flip, give, or shoot, e.g. in she shot him the bird. Cf. flip v. Additions, to give (a person) the finger at finger n. Phrases 4t(a)(iii). [Probably originally a specific use of sense 16a, by association with to give (a person) the finger at finger n. Phrases 4t(a)(iii).]
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > gesturing or gesture > hand gesture > [noun] > finger gesture > other finger gestures
fillip1530
devil horn1854
devil's horns1905
victory sign1942
bird1966
air quote1989
1966 F. C. Elkins Diary 12 June in Heart of Man (1973) 17 We have a picture of the Russian tail gunner..giving one of our F-8 pilots the international one-finger salute, the bird.
1972 G. Lucas et al. Amer. Graffiti (film script) 33 (stage direct.) He revs the engine to get their attention and once he has it he motions to roll down their window. She flips him the bird instead and he lets them pass.
2003 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 16 Oct. a21 The offender..may well have ‘shot the bird’ at a fellow motorist.
2005 J. Trunk Dirty Fan Male xii. 89 I then notice on a wall by a bar a sizeable framed shot of Bernard Manning giving us all the bird.
2018 Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 29 Mar. (headline) MP accused of flipping the bird opens up racism row in Parliament.
17. U.S. slang. An exceptionally smart or accomplished person; (also) a first-rate animal or thing. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [noun] > excellent person or thing
carbunclea1350
swanc1386
phoenixc1400
diamondc1440
broocha1464
surmounterc1500
sovereign?a1513
primrose peerless1523
superlative1577
transcendent1593
Arabian birda1616
crack1637
first rate1681
peach1710
phoenicle1711
admiration1717
spanker1751
first-raterc1760
no slouch of1767
nailer1806
tip-topper1822
ripper1825
ripstaver1828
apotheosis1832
clinker1836
clipper1836
bird1839
keener1839
ripsnorter1840
beater1845
firecracker1845
pumpkin1845
screamer1846
stunner1847
bottler1855
beaut1866
bobby-dazzler1866
one out of the box1867
stem-winder1875
corker1877
trimmer1878
hot stuff1884
daisy1886
jim-dandy1887
cracker1891
jim-hickey1895
peacherino1896
pippin1897
alpha plus1898
peacherine1900
pip1900
humdinger1905
bosker1906
hummer1907
good egg1914
superstar1914
the berries1918
bee's knee1923
the cat's whiskers1923
smash1923
smash hit1923
brahma1925
dilly1935
piss-cutter1935
killer1937
killer-diller1938
a hard act to follow1942
peacheroo1942
bitch1946
brammerc1950
hot shit1960
Tiffany1973
bollocks1981
1839 Spirit of Times 21 Dec. 498/2 If you jist could see one man what the Gineral Government sent out with an office to these parts,—he is a bird!
1856 Knickerbocker Apr. 429 A sleigh, drawn by a ‘perfect bird’ of a three-mile bay mare.
1907 S. E. White Arizona Nights (U.K. ed.) i. vii. 129 A little place..in the Colorado mountains. Fellows, she was a bird.
1911 H. Quick Yellowstone Nights ix. 230 He's got a disguise that's a bird.
1935 J. T. Farrell Guillotine Party & Other Stories 205 Only those fellows..can think up more schemes than Yellow Kid Weil. They're birds!
18. Golf. A score of one stroke under par on a hole; a birdie (birdie n. 2). [Probably originally a specialized use of sense 17.]
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > [noun] > scoring
half1881
par1887
bird1906
birdie1906
eagle1909
double eagle1925
albatross1932
hole in one1935
bogey1946
double bogey1954
1906 Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) 4 May 18/3 The Philadelphia golfers have coined a new word. Whenever a hole is made in better than par it is a ‘bird’.
1957 Sports Illustr. 30 Sept. 43/2 Robbins banged in a beautiful putt for his bird on the 16th.
2018 Star Phoenix (Saskatoon, Sask.) (Nexis) 11 July (Sports section) b1 Kozak was even-par through the back nine with five pars, two birds and two bogeys.
19. British slang. A prison sentence, time spent in prison; (also) prison. Now frequently in to do bird: to spend time in prison for an offence, to do time. Cf. birdlime n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > [noun]
prisonOE
wardc1290
prisoning1344
keepingc1384
imprisonment1389
prisonment1422
jail1447
fasteningc1460
warding1497
firmancea1522
incarcerationc1540
imprisoningc1542
limbo1590
limbus?a1600
endurance1610
jailing1622
restraint1829
carceration1870
holiday1901
Paddy Doyle1919
bird1924
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > [noun] > sentence or term of
time1790
lagging1819
stretch1821
model1845
birdlime1857
penal1864
prison sentence1867
rap1870
bit1871
spot1895
hard time1896
sleep1911
jolt1912
bird1924
fall1926
beef1928
trick1933
porridge1950
custodial sentence1951
1924 E. Wallace Room 13 ix. 90 He's just out of ‘bird’—that's jail.
1931 Police Jrnl. Oct. 501 This, with Jack's previous convictions (bird), caused him to be sentenced..to five years' penal servitude..at Parkhurst.
1938 ‘J. Curtis’ They drive by Night ii. 22 Hell of a long time the next bit of bird was going to be unless he got done for suspect.
1970 C. Egleton Piece of Resistance (1974) xviii. 208 Must be the expert local knowledge you acquired when you were doing bird.
2001 A. Wheatle East of Acre Lane 100 He's doing seven years' bird after de beast catch 'im in dat container wid all dat charlie at Dover.
2008 Argus (Sussex) 11 July 3/2 Nothing is off-limits to the villains, it seems... They are of course, risking doing some bird in the process.
20. slang (chiefly U.S.). A kilogram of cocaine or some other drug.
ΚΠ
1991 ‘Ice Cube’ A Bird in the Hand (transcribed from song) in Death Certificate I got me a bird, better known as a kilo.
1994 ‘Lil Slim’ Powder Shop (transcribed from song) Move a half a bird a day, got no time to play.
2003 Y. B. Moore Triple Take xxii. 219 Just give me a couple of the birds you took the other night and I'll leave town tonight.
2011 @Sandman333MU 15 Dec. in twitter.com (accessed 11 June 2021) Sam Hurd got busted buyin a bird of coke & he agreed to buy 5-10 birds & 1000lbs of weed a week to distribute.

Phrases

P1.
a. In various similative expressions, esp. with reference to a bird's song or the carefree nature attributed to it.See also as chipper as a bird, to eat like a bird, free as a bird.
ΚΠ
c1330 Sir Orfeo (Auch.) (1966) l. 305 Gentil & iolif as brid on ris.
1594 J. Stockwood tr. L. Daneau Fruitfull Comm. Twelue Small Prophets (Hosea ix. 11) 479 Their glorie shall flee away like a bird.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison V. xliii. 277 Emily; good girl! quite recovered, and blyth as a bird.
1832 T. Hood Jarvis & Mrs. Cope in New Sporting Mag. Mar. 323 Not pious in its proper sense, But chattring like a bird, Of sin and grace.
1850 W. Wordsworth Prelude xiii. 340 As lightsome as a bird.
1997 R. Tremain Way I found Her (1998) ii. 241 The conversation in the street went on and on, clear as a bird.
2002 F. Michaels Late Bloomer (2004) iv. 91 He had a voice like a bird. How that man could sing.
b. spec. like a bird: with swift and easy motion onwards; easily; without resistance, difficulty, or hesitation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > easy, easily, or without difficulty [phrase]
with a wet finger1542
for the whistling1546
like a bird1825
as easy (or simple) as falling (or rolling) off a log1839
without tears1857
like a dream1882
as easy as winking1907
1825 J. Neal Brother Jonathan I. xiii. 421 Away she went, like a bird.
1873 W. S. Gilbert More Bab Ballads 118 ‘Miss Emily, I love you—Will you marry? Say the word!’ And Emily said ‘Certainly, Alphonso, like a bird!’
1876 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer xi. in Austral. Town & Country Jrnl. (Sydney) 9 Sept. 422/4 [His horse] to use Jack Windsor's expression, ‘went like a bird’.
1879 Cassell's Family Mag. Mar. 197/2 Over he went like a bird, and, with his fair burthen yet in the saddle.
1914 G. B. Shaw Fanny's Last Play Induct., in Misalliance 159 I told him Trotter would feel lonely without him; so he promised like a bird.
1945 Motorboating Nov. 15/2 (advt.) Engines? They are still going like a bird and, in my opinion, as good as ever.
2001 D. Sleightholme Funny Old Life 179 She bore off and ran like a bird, sails half down and threshing.
P2. In proverbs and proverbial expressions.
a. Proverb. a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and variants: used to indicate that something one already has should not be risked for the mere possibility of getting more of it: a smaller actual advantage is preferable to the theoretical chance of a larger one. Hence a bird in the hand: something one already possesses or has secured. Cf. bush n.1 1c. [Compare post-classical Latin plus valet in manibus avis unica quam dupla silvis one bird in the hands is worth more than two in the woods (13th cent.).]
For a bird in the hand is better than two in the wood: see wood n.1 5e.
ΚΠ
c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) (1893) ii. l. 250 It is more sekyr a byrd in your fest Than to haue three in þe sky a-bove.
?1545 H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture sig. Ciii A byrde in hande is worth ten at large.
a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) i. 163 All their Capitulations were held to be Star-shootings, Flashes, and Meteors, without the Bird in the Hand.
1832 B. Disraeli Let. 9 Mar. (1982) I. 242 Till a more fortunate one can be discovered..I should not let go the bird in the hand, unless you were positive of the one in the bush.
1920 K. Harris Meet Mr. Stegg iv. 164 I'm a level-headed, cool-judgmented believer in the bird in the hand.
1948 G. Frost Flying Squad viii. 85 It wasn't a car linked with the shop-theft job that we were free-lancing for, but we thought a bird in the hand worth two in the bush, so we followed the car down the Hendon bypass and the Watford road.
2018 M. Obama Becoming viii. 95 I made good money at Sidley but was pragmatic enough to take a bird in the hand when it came to housing.
b. In various proverbial expressions.
ΚΠ
a1500 (a1450) Generides (Trin. Cambr.) l. 4524 (MED) Some bete the bussh, and some the byrdes take.
1523 J. Skelton Goodly Garlande of Laurell 1452 Who may have a more ungracious lyfe Than a chyldis bird and a knavis wyfe?
a1529 J. Skelton Poems against Garnesche in Poet Wks. (1843) I. 125 That byrd ys nat honest That fylythe hys owne nest.
1652 E. Ashmole Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum lxii. 225 A Chyldys Byrde, and a Chorlys Wyfe, Hath ofte sythys sorow and mischaunce.
1823 J. Galt Entail II. xx. 190 It's a foul bird that files it's ain nest.
1989 Sunday Times (Nexis) 12 Feb. Pound had been asked why he didn't write while in prison. ‘Caged birds don't sing’, he replied.
c. birds of a feather and variants: people of the same sort or who have shared sensibilities, tastes, values, etc. Frequently in proverbial phrase birds of a feather flock together. Cf. feather n. 2c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > in respect of kind [phrase] > of the same kind
birds of a feather1545
birds of a feather flock together1581
of the same, that, every, etc. feather1581
1545 W. Turner Rescuynge of Romishe Fox sig. B viii Byrdes of on kynde and color flok and flye allwayes together.
1608 D. Tuvill Ess. Politicke, & Morall f. 90v A prying eye, a listning eare, and a prating tongue are all birds of one wing.
1632 D. Lupton London & Countrey Carbonadoed 57 The Tayler and Broker are Birds of a feather.
1757 W. Thompson Royal Navy-men's Advocate 13 note Birds of a Feather flock together.
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian vii, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. III. 167 I trow thou be'st a bird of the same feather.
1967 S. Marshall Fenland Chron. (1998) ii. ii. 176 Wiggy and my father were real cronies, birds of a feather in every way.
2006 N.Y. Times Mag. 10 Dec. 52 Web sites like Facebook and MySpace, which tend to bring birds of a feather together.
†d. like John Grey's bird: used to characterize someone as fond of socializing or being in the company of others. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1575 G. Gascoigne Fruites of Warre cxxxi, in Posies sig. Hvii The Greene knight was amongst the rest, Like..Iohn Greyes birde that ventured withe the best.
1580 in W. C. Hazlitt Eng. Proverbs (1869) 263 Perceiving them to cluster togither like John Grayes bird, ut dicitur, who always loved company.
e. Proverb. there are no birds in last year's nest and variants: change is inevitable with the passing of time; all things in life are transient.
ΚΠ
1620 T. Shelton tr. M. de Cervantes 2nd Pt. Don Quixote lxxiv. 500 I pray you goe not on so fast, since that in the nests of the last yeere, there are no birds of this yeere [Sp. en los nidos de antaño no ay paxaros ogaño]. Whilome I was a foole, but now I am wise.
1841 H. W. Longfellow in Bentley's Misc. Jan. 196 Enjoy the spring of love and youth; To some good angel leave the rest; For time will teach thee soon the truth, There are no birds in last year's nest.
1909 Gympie (Queensland) Times 13 Nov. 5/7 ‘There are no birds in last year's nest’ as far as gowns are concerned. Fashion has changed with remarkable completeness.
2012 @iamjonettamarie 26 Oct. in twitter.com (accessed 3 June 2021) You won't find this year's birds in last year's nest. Life is meant for moving on!
f. birds in their little nests agree: see agree v. Phrases 3b; you can't catch an old bird with chaff: see catch v. Phrases 7; the crow thinks its own bird fairest: see crow n.1 3; the early bird gets the worm: see early bird n. 1; fine feathers make fine birds: see fine adj., adv., and n.2 Phrases 1; a bird cannot fly with one wing: see wing n. Additions.
P3. Predicative adjectival (and adverbial) phrases in which bird is the object of a preposition.
†a. in for a bird: caught, trapped, ensnared. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1534 N. Udall Floures for Latine Spekynge gathered oute of Terence f. 2 Captus est. He is taken, Or, he is in the snare, or he is in the lashe. And prouerbially, he is in for a birde, or he is in by the weke.
1588 ‘M. Marprelate’ Oh read ouer D. Iohn Bridges: Epist. 32 I hope to see you in for a bird.
1605 C. Tourneur Laugh & lie Downe sig. Eiiv For loue had catcht them, and they were in for a bird.
1619 L. Bankes Safegard of Soule 369 We haue one Barabbas who is in for a Bird, and fast in hold.
b. Originally U.S. Military slang (now colloquial). (strictly) for the birds: not worth serious consideration; trivial, unimportant, worthless. [With the explanation offered in quot. 1957 compare the early variant shit for the birds, although it is possible that the allusion originally intended was less specific.]
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > worthless
naughteOE
unworthc960
nought worthOE
unworthya1240
vaina1300
lewd1362
base?1510
to be nothing toc1520
stark naught1528
nothing worth1535
worthilessa1542
draffish1543
baggage1548
dunghill?1555
valureless1563
toyish1572
worthless1573
out (forth) of door (also doors)1574
leaden1577
riff-raff1577
drafty1582
fecklessc1586
dudgeon?1589
nought-worth1589
tenpenny1592
wanwordy?a1595
shotten herring1598
nugatory1603
unvalued1604
priceless1614
unvaluable1615
valuelessa1616
waste1616
trashya1620
draffy1624
stramineous1624
invaluable1640
roly-poly?1645
nugatorious1646
perquisquilian1647
niffling1649
lazy1671
wanworth1724
little wortha1754
flimsy1756
waff1788
null1790
nothingy1801
nothingly1802
twopenny-halfpenny1809
not worth a flaw1810
garbage1817
peanut1836
duffing1839
trash1843
no-account1845
no-count1851
punky1859
rummagy1872
junky1880
skilligalee1883
footle1894
punk1896
wherry-go-nimble1901
junk1908
rinky-dink1913
schlock1916
tripe1927
duff1938
chickenshit1940
sheg-up1941
expendable1942
(strictly) for the birds1943
tripey1955
schlocky1960
naff1964
dipshit1968
cack1978
1943 Stars & Stripes (Italy ed.) 10 Dec. 2/3 This Rome jaunt is strictly for the birds. And we is the birds.
1951 J. D. Salinger Catcher in Rye i. 6 ‘Since 1888 we have been moulding boys into splendid, clear-thinking young men.’ Strictly for the birds.
1953 Time 7 Sept. 2/1 Kinsey's book is strictly for the birds.
1957 Amer. Speech 32 240 In 1942, when I entered the U.S. Army..the disparaging term that's for the birds was in common use among officers and enlisted men... The metaphor alludes to birds eating droppings from horses and cattle.
1958 J. Osborne & A. Creighton Epit. for George Dillon ii. 49 ‘You aren't very impressed with Geoffrey..?’ ‘Right. What the Americans call “strictly for the birds”.’
1963 Listener 14 Feb. 301/2 Our answer, at that age, would have been that Stanley Matthews was for the birds. Football was just not mobile enough.
2012 Daily Tel. 24 Feb. 27/3 The idea that a big national insurance cut would by boosting growth, more than pay for itself is also, frankly, for the birds.
c. U.S. slang. out of (also off) one's bird: out of one's mind; unable to think or act rationally or sensibly; crazy, insane. Also: (so as to be) intoxicated or incapacitated by drugs or alcohol. [The semantic motivation is unclear.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > use of drugs and poison > effects of drugs > [adjective]
intoxicated1576
drunk1585
besotted1831
drugged1871
dopey1896
doped1903
piped1906
lit1912
loaded1923
high1932
polluted1938
stone1945
straight1946
impaired1951
on the nod1951
buzzed1952
stoned1953
hung1958
strung out1959
zonked1959
shot1964
out of (also off) one's bird1966
ripped1966
wiped1966
amped1967
tanked1968
wrecked1968
whacked out1969
wired1970
jagged1973
funked up1976
annihilated1980
junked out1982
obliterated1984
caned1992
wankered1992
twatted1993
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > [adjective] > insanity or madness > affected with
woodc725
woodsekc890
giddyc1000
out of (by, from, of) wit or one's witc1000
witlessc1000
brainsickOE
amadc1225
lunaticc1290
madc1330
sickc1340
brain-wooda1375
out of one's minda1387
frenetica1398
fonda1400
formada1400
unwisea1400
brainc1400
unwholec1400
alienate?a1425
brainless1434
distract of one's wits1470
madfula1475
furious1475
distract1481
fro oneself1483
beside oneself1490
beside one's patience1490
dementa1500
red-wood?1507
extraught1509
misminded1509
peevish1523
bedlam-ripe1525
straughta1529
fanatic1533
bedlama1535
daft1540
unsounda1547
stark raving (also staring) mad1548
distraughted1572
insane1575
acrazeda1577
past oneself1576
frenzy1577
poll-mad1577
out of one's senses1580
maddeda1586
frenetical1588
distempered1593
distraught1597
crazed1599
diswitted1599
idle-headed1599
lymphatical1603
extract1608
madling1608
distracteda1616
informala1616
far gone1616
crazy1617
March mada1625
non compos mentis1628
brain-crazed1632
demented1632
crack-brained1634
arreptitiousa1641
dementate1640
dementated1650
brain-crackeda1652
insaniated1652
exsensed1654
bedlam-witteda1657
lymphatic1656
mad-like1679
dementative1685
non compos1699
beside one's gravity1716
hyte1720
lymphated1727
out of one's head1733
maddened1735
swivel-eyed1758
wrong1765
brainsickly1770
fatuous1773
derangedc1790
alienated1793
shake-brained1793
crack-headed1796
flighty1802
wowf1802
doitrified1808
phrenesiac1814
bedlamite1815
mad-braineda1822
fey1823
bedlamitish1824
skire1825
beside one's wits1827
as mad as a hatter1829
crazied1842
off one's head1842
bemadded1850
loco1852
off one's nut1858
off his chump1864
unsane1867
meshuga1868
non-sane1868
loony1872
bee-headed1879
off one's onion1881
off one's base1882
(to go) off one's dot1883
locoed1885
screwy1887
off one's rocker1890
balmy or barmy on (or in) the crumpet1891
meshuggener1892
nutty1892
buggy1893
bughouse1894
off one's pannikin1894
ratty1895
off one's trolley1896
batchy1898
twisted1900
batsc1901
batty1903
dippy1903
bugs1904
dingy1904
up the (also a) pole1904
nut1906
nuts1908
nutty as a fruitcake1911
bugged1920
potty1920
cuckoo1923
nutsy1923
puggled1923
blah1924
détraqué1925
doolally1925
off one's rocket1925
puggle1925
mental1927
phooey1927
crackers1928
squirrelly1928
over the edge1929
round the bend1929
lakes1934
ding-a-ling1935
wacky1935
screwball1936
dingbats1937
Asiatic1938
parlatic1941
troppo1941
up the creek1941
screwed-up1943
bonkers1945
psychological1952
out to lunch1955
starkers1956
off (one's) squiff1960
round the twist1960
yampy1963
out of (also off) one's bird1966
out of one's skull1967
whacked out1969
batshit1971
woo-woo1971
nutso1973
out of (one's) gourd1977
wacko1977
off one's meds1986
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [adjective] > drunk > completely or very drunk
drunk as a (drowned) mousea1350
to-drunka1382
as drunk as the devilc1400
sow-drunk1509
fish-drunk1591
swine-drunk1592
gone1603
far gone1616
reeling drunk1620
soda1625
souseda1625
blind1630
full1631
drunk (also merry, tipsy) as a lord1652
as full (or tight) as a tick1678
clear1688
drunk (dull, mute) as a fish1700
as drunk as David's sow or as a sow1727
as drunk as a piper1728
blind-drunkc1775
bitch foua1796
blootered1820
whole-seas over1820
three sheets in the wind1821
as drunk as a loon1830
shellaced1881
as drunk as a boiled owl1886
stinking1887
steaming drunk1892
steaming with drink1897
footless1901
legless1903
plastered1912
legless drunk1926
stinko1927
drunk as a pissant1930
kaylied1937
langers1949
stoned1952
smashed1962
shit-faced1963
out of (also off) one's bird1966
trashed1966
faced1968
stoned1968
steaming1973
langered1979
annihilated1980
obliterated1984
wankered1992
muntered1998
1966 L. G. Pine & T. Rome Man called Adam xv. 73 Are you out of your bird? Hey, Claudia, I think he's wigging out.
1987 C. Sliwa in B. Berkowitz Local Heroes 156 What's happened to you, have you gone nuts? Are you off your bird?
1996 R. Altman in Sunday Tel. 17 Nov. (Arts section) 11/3 She would wander round the house in a négligé with that white stuff on her face, stoned out of her bird.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 7 Aug. a15/3 [He] started to tease me about my father, calling him a rat. I went out of my bird, started throwing chairs and punches.
P4. With defining word connected by of.Cf. bird of paradise n.bird of congress, bird of game, bird of passage: see the second element.
Bird of Freedom n. U.S. the bald eagle considered as an emblem of the United States of America (see eagle n. 4b).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > insignia > [noun] > specific emblems, badges, or cognizances > national
ravenOE
thistle1488
red cross1523
St George's cross1548
Britannia1605
red rose1618
British Lion1687
shamrock1712
leek1714
American eagle1782
rising sun1787
white horse1814
Bird of Freedom1825
Union Jack1847
maple leaf1860
meatball1919
red star1920
hammer and sickle1921
chakra1947
1825 Wilmingtonian & Delaware Reg. 14 July Highly poised on his wing of expansion in Heaven, The wild bird of freedom I passed on my way.
1906 Harper's Mag. Mar. 638 The short story is peculiarly an American institution, and we are as proud of it as we are of the ‘Bird of Freedom’.
2006 South Bend (Indiana) Tribune (Nexis) 22 Aug. e1 ‘The bird actually is like a bird of freedom’, said Gunnett, who carved an American eagle out of a backyard tree.
bird of Jove n. the eagle considered as sacred to the Roman god Jupiter.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > eagles > eagle
erneOE
eaglec1350
king of fowlsc1475
king of birds1575
bird of Jove1612
iron1623
yearna1797
kingbird1840
1612 H. Peacham Minerua Britanna i. 27 Yee Noblest sprightes, that with the bird of Iove, Haue learnt to leaue, and loath, this baser earth.
1726 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey IV. xix. 620 The bird of Jove Fierce from his mountain-eyrie downward drove.
1867 J. B. Rose tr. Virgil Æneis 266 So stoops the bird of Jove..To truss the snowy swan or dusky hare.
2013 My Republica (Nepal) (Nexis) 2 June Next time a jackal says an eagle has taken our ear, we must examine its motive and feel our ears before running after the bird of Jove.
bird of Juno n. the peacock considered as sacred to the Roman goddess Juno.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > hawk
hawka700
bird of Juno1655
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > [noun] > paro cristatus (peafowl) > male or peacock
poeOE
peacockc1175
pawnc1400
pavone1590
bird of Juno1655
1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. x. 84 Peacocks are (as Poets fain) the beloved Birds of Juno.
1733 A. Pope Song in Gentleman's Mag. 3 320 See the Bird of Juno stooping.
2019 China Daily (Hong Kong ed.) (Nexis) 1 Dec. Yang Lesheng twists his shoulders like a dancing peacock... It is not only Yang's moves that are reminiscent of the bird of Juno.
bird of prey n. a bird that kills and feeds on other animals; a raptor (cf. of prey at prey n. 4a); also figurative.Used chiefly of birds belonging to the orders Accipitriformes (hawks, eagles, vultures, kites), Falconiformes (falcons and caracaras), and Strigiformes (owls). Cf. beast of prey n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > [noun] > member of
eaglec1350
alieta1398
bird of preya1398
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 309 Most hote briddes of complexioun and colerik, as briddes of pray, haueþ þe vtter partyes ȝelowe.
1485 W. Caxton tr. Thystorye & Lyf Charles the Grete sig. fjv/2 Fawcons and other byrdes of proye.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) ii. i. 2 We must not make a scar-crow of the Law, Setting it vp to feare the Birds of prey . View more context for this quotation
1854 J. Garrett Let. 1 Dec. in C. Darwin Corr. (1989) V. 242 Birds of Prey,..after feeding on the seed-eating birds, cast up the seeds uninjured.
2016 Daily Tel. 12 May 30/6 Farmers, birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts have been encouraged to look out for Montagu's harrier, the UK's rarest breeding bird of prey, as they embark on their breeding season.
† Bird of Washington n. Obsolete a kind of eagle, often identified as the bald eagle ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus) or its northern subspecies H. l. washingtonienis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > eagles > genus Haliaetus > species leucocephalus (bald-eagle)
bald eagle1692
American eagle1782
Bird of Washington1828
bald-headed eagle1829
1828 J. J. Audubon in Mag. Nat. Hist. July 115 (title) Notes on the Bird of Washington (Falco Washingtoniana), or Great American Sea Eagle.
1865 J. G. Wood Homes without Hands xxvii. 532 The well known Bald-headed Eagle, sometimes called the Bird of Washington.
bird of wonder n. now rare (a name for) the phoenix.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > mythical creature or object > [noun] > types of mythical bird > phoenix
phoenixOE
Arabian bird1596
bird of wonder1611
phoenicle1711
fum1820
palm-bird1854
1611 D. Murray Tragicall Death Sophonisba sig. C5 That sole bird of wonder, Th' Arabian Phœnix.
1620 J. Melton Astrologaster 21 Impostors..like the Bird of Wonder, flye the light of the Citie.
1623 W. Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII v. iv. 40 The Bird of Wonder dyes, the Mayden Phoenix. View more context for this quotation
1906 J. Vinycomb Fictitious & Symbolic Creatures in Art 173 ‘The bird of wonder’ is said to have appeared in Egypt five times.
1996 Internat. Jrnl. Philos. Relig. 40 90 This bird of wonder, as Shakespeare called it,..burns itself up and then rises from its ashes with renewed vigor.
P5. Other phrases.
a. the bird has flown and variants: the person one is looking for has fled or departed. Also: the opportunity has passed.
ΚΠ
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 6214 The bridd is flowe and he was let, The faire Maide him hath escaped.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xii. sig. F But warnyng to departe thens they nedyd none. For er the next day the byrds were flowne eche one.
1655 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 1st Pt. 93 Man..knowes not his time..He comes when the bird is flowen.
1839 Boston Weekly Mag. 26 Jan. 161/3 What, still in chase of the capricious fair one! You are too late, the bird is flown.
1972 G. M. Brown Greenvoe (1976) v. 181 There was the whisky bottle and a crust beside it and a few hot embers on the hearth. But the bird had flown.
2007 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 12 Apr. (Sport section) 33 By the time Beasley had decided to cut loose, ‘the race is gone and the bird is flown.’
†b. the bird in one's (also the) bosom: one's private loyalty or faithfulness to someone or something; (hence) one’s conscience or sense of personal integrity. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > [noun] > moral sense > conscience
hearta1225
conscience?c1225
inwitc1230
pursec1275
the bird in one's (also the) bosom1548
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > privacy > [noun] > inward or hidden thoughts, etc.
the bird in one's (also the) bosom1548
bosom1600
underthought1602
recess1605
arrière-pensée1617
sanctuary1642
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. cxcv Saiyng, when he was diyng: I haue saued the birde in my bosome: meanyng that he had kept, both his promise and othe.
a1677 T. Manton Sermons (1701) V. ii. 766 Conscience is the best Friend, and the worst Enemy... No bird sings so sweetly as the Bird in the bosom.
1820 W. Scott Abbot I. viii. 173 Thou hast kept well..the bird in thy bosom.
1933 Jrnl. Eng. Folk Dance & Song Soc. 1 110 The now scarce music-books of a race of singers finding, in spite of the limitation of their province, an outlet for the ‘bird in the bosom’ in religious songs of a primitive unlettered type, fitted to their own ‘native woodnotes wild’.
†c. a bird of one's own brain: a conception of one's own. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > idea, notion, or concept > [noun] > of one's own
a bird of one's own brain1594
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 523 I take it to be a bird of their owne braine.
d. colloquial (euphemistic). the birds and the bees and variants: the facts about human sexual functions and reproduction, especially as told to children.Often humorous, with allusion to the inadequate accounts given to young children.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > [noun] > information about sex
the facts of life1891
the birds and the bees1933
1933 Bergen Evening Rec. (Hackensack, New Jersey) 27 Mar. 26/7 Mothers and schools are going out of their way to teach the young what are known in capital letters as the Facts of Life... Long before the epic of the birds and the bees and the flowers comes into the child's life, he has been told about it by well-informed playmates.
1939 News-Herald (Franklin, Pa.) 20 Feb. 4/2 A Frenchman was born sophisticated; he knows about the birds and the bees. In consequence, French films are made on the basis of artistic understanding that does not hamper the story.
1950 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 50 36 A far cry from ‘the birds and the bees’ school of thought is How to Tell Your Child About Sex, Public Affairs Pamphlet No. 149.
2015 New Yorker 5 Jan. 18/1 Several hundred of those cheerful and unembarrassable souls whose calling it is to teach about the birds and the bees.
e. to be a box of birds: box n.2 Phrases 6b; egg and bird: see egg n. 4; to sing like a bird: see sing v.1 4d; to kill two birds with one stone: see stone n. 16b.

Compounds

C1.
a. General use as a modifier with the sense ‘of, involving, or relating to birds’, as in bird book, bird chorus, bird claw, bird flight, bird migration, bird skin, etc. [Compare earlier use in surnames, as Rob Bridebek (1275), Henry Bryddetung (1298).]
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > skin with hair attached or fur > [noun] > of bird
bird skin1778
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [noun] > toe or claw
clawa700
toec1386
palma1425
pawc1440
talon1486
spur1548
heel1631
heel spur1871
pinion-claw1884
bird claw1889
the world > animals > birds > actions or bird defined by > [noun] > migration
migrationa1633
passage1747
migrating1815
bird migration1908
abmigration1923
society > communication > book > kind of book > [noun] > book about birds
bird book1989
1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. vii. 302 Pullarius..went back to Rome to take the Auspicium [or the presage by the bird-flight] again.
1778 J. Cook Jrnl. 26 Oct. (1967) III. ii. 1142 Their dress consists of a bird skin Frock.
1861 E. Melena tr. G. Garibaldi Recoll. vii. 151 The twitter of an harmonious bird chorus, coming from the dark trees of the ‘Promenade des Maronniers’, was the only sound that fell upon my ear.
1881 A. Leslie tr. A. E. Nordenskiöld Voy. Vega II. xi. 42 The acquaintance I had made..with the bird-world of the high north.
1889 W. B. Yeats Wanderings of Oisin iii. 38 Golden the nails of his bird-claws.
1904 W. H. Hudson Green Mansions iii. 41 Hearing nothing except the usual bird voices.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 1 Feb. 16/1 The bird-migration routes.
1978 Audubon Jan. 63/1 The memorial was thickly whitened with bird droppings.
1986 P. Fuller Marches Past (1991) 93 I imagine my father is ticking off the 8,798 bird species of the world.
1989 I. Frazier Great Plains i. 14 Birds with long curved bills (Hudsonian godwits, the bird book said) flew just above us.
2010 Daily Tel. 16 Nov. 2/6 Police have charged a man over the theft of 299 rare bird skins from the Natural History Museum at Tring.
b. With participles, agent nouns, and verbal nouns, forming compounds in which bird expresses the object of the underlying verb, as in bird-angler, bird-catcher, bird-catching, bird-keeper, bird-lover, bird-seller, bird-snaring, bird-stuffer, bird-stuffing, etc.Cf. bird banding n., bird feeder n., bird-minder n., birdwatch v., etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > zoology > taxidermy > [noun] > stuffing of birds
bird-stuffing1580
the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > fowler > [noun]
fowlerc893
birder1308
catcher1550
bird-catcher1580
bird-angler1653
wild-fowler1859
waterfowler1888
the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > [noun]
fowling1413
lowbelling1581
birding1602
bird-catching1687
waterfowling1702
wild-fowling1874
the world > animals > zoology > taxidermy > [noun] > stuffing of birds > one who
bird-stuffer1838
the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > [noun] > snaring or netting
draughtc1275
trammelling1588
tunnelling1687
bird-snaring1899
the world > animals > zoology > study of specific types of animal > [noun] > birds > lover of birds
ornithophile1881
bird-lover1938
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > [noun] > bird-keeper or -breeder
birder1827
aviarist1883
aviculturist1904
bird-keeper1938
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Pippe, a little pipe the which bird catchers doe vse.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler xi. 206 This Bird-Angler standing upon the top of a steeple to [catch swallows].
1687 R. L'Estrange Answer to Let. to Dissenter 7 The Skill and Address of Bird-catching.
1709 E. Ward Secret Hist. Clubs xix. 182 As many more of the Bird-Fancying Fraternity..as can crow'd in amongst 'em.
1838 J. J. Audubon Ornithol. Biogr. IV. 271 A bird-stuffer whom I knew at Camden had many fine specimens.
1870 D. J. Kirwan Palace & Hovel xxvi. 397 There are hundreds of the bird-sellers to be found hawking their birds all over the city.
1899 Daily News 10 June 8/5 Go bird-nesting or bird-snaring in one of the parks.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 8 July 8/1 The cruel trade carried on by the bird-catcher.
1938 Brit. Birds 31 375 A Common Partridge..was taken to St. James's Park and handed over to the bird-keeper.
1938 Brit. Birds 31 383 Richmond Park has much to interest the bird-lover.
2005 Independent 29 Apr. 13/3 Gammell..said the confirmed sightings of the ivory-billed woodpecker would be celebrated by bird lovers around the world.
c. As a modifier, with the sense ‘by or with birds’.
†(a) Modifying agent nouns and nouns of action, designating a person who divines by means of the flights and calls of birds, or designating divination by means of this, as in bird-conjurer, bird-diviner, bird-divination, †bird-speller, etc. Obsolete. Cf. birdgazer n. at Compounds 2a and birdwatcher n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by natural phenomena > divination by birds, augury > [noun] > one who practises
bird-conjurera1382
bird-speller1571
birdgazer1576
birdwatcher1712
orneoscopist1727
orniscopist1755
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by natural phenomena > divination by birds, augury > [noun]
augurya1413
augurationc1450
ornomancyc1500
auspice1533
auspicy1603
alectromancy1652
ornithomancy1652
alectryomancy1658
bird-divination1670
orneoscopics1727
orniscopics1775
ornithoscopy1840
orniscopy1890
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. xxvii. 9 Sweueneres, and brid deuyneres.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Deut. xviii. 14 Þes gentylis..brid coniurers & dyuynours heeryn.
1571 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Psalmes of Dauid with Comm. (xiv. 4) Birdspellers and other heathen soothsayers.
1670 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. II iii. 68 Now this Bird-divination was gathered chiefly by the flying or singing of Birds.
(b) Modifying past participles, forming adjectives, as in bird-haunted, bird-ridden, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > [adjective] > overrun or swarming with birds
winged1637
bird-ridden1835
the world > animals > birds > [adjective] > haunted by birds
bird-haunted1897
1835 W. Beckford Recoll. Monasteries Alcobaça & Batalha 163 These bird-ridden dominions.
1897 Daily News 29 June 6/3 The bird-haunted estuary of a river falling into Lake Tanganyika.
1925 W. de la Mare Broomsticks 256 The bird-haunted, sheep-grazed meadows.
a1933 J. A. Thomson Biol. for Everyman (1934) II. 1151 Birds do not settle on flowers, hence bird-pollinated flowers do not show landing-stage petals.
2020 Irish Times (Nexis) 30 Oct. 8 Gillian Burke wanders bird-infested wetlands where once there were beautiful coal mines.
d. Forming adjectives with the sense ‘that has a bird's ——’, ‘having —— like a bird's’ by combining with a noun + -ed, as in bird-eyed, bird-boned, bird-footed, bird-headed, etc.Cf. bird-hipped adj., and bird-mouthed adj. at Compounds 2a, as well as bird-brained adj. at bird brain n. Derivatives and bird-winged adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [adjective] > by size, shape, etc. > having
goggle-eyedc1384
well-eyed1483
pink-eyed1519
hollow-eyeda1529
small-eyed1555
great-eyed1558
bird-eyed1564
out-eyed1570
large-eyed1575
full-eyed1581
bright-eyed1590
wall-eyed1590
beetle-eyed1594
fire-eyed?1594
young-eyed1600
open-eyed1601
soft-eyed1606
narrow-eyed1607
broad-eyed?1611
saucer-eyed1612
ox-eyed1621
pig-eyed1655
glare-eyed1683
pit-eyed1696
dove-eyed1717
laughing-eyed1784
almond1786
wide-eyed1789
moon-eyed1790
big-eyed1792
gooseberry-eyed1796
red-eyed1800
unsealed1800
screw-eyed1810
starry-eyed1818
pinkie-eyed1824
pop-eyed1830
bead-eyed1835
fishy-eyed1836
almond-eyed1849
boopic1854
sharp-set1865
bug-eyed1872
beady-eyed1873
bias-eyed1877
blank-eyed1881
gape-eyed1889
glass-eyed1889
stone-eyed1890
pie-eyed1900
slitty-eyed1908
steely-eyed1964
megalopic1985
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [adjective] > having bird's head
bird-headed1849
1564 W. Bullein Dialogue against Fever Pestilence f. 43 He is a burde iyed iade, I warrant you.
1590 ‘Pasquil’ First Pt. Pasquils Apol. sig. Ciij The fellowe is bird eyed, he startles and snuffes at euery shadow.
?a1808 Universal Syst. Nat. Hist. XIV. 55 Pedated, or bird-footed, when a bifid petiole connects folioles on its interior side only.
1849 Dublin Univ. Mag. Nov. 568/1 This divinity resembling the bird-headed deity of the Egyptians, called Toth, is to be met with in many Buddhist temples in Ceylon.
1892 E. R. Lankester tr. E. Haeckel Hist. Creation (ed. 4) II. 293 Derivation of Birds from Bird-legged Sauria (Ornithoscelides).
1916 Jrnl. Royal Anthropol. Inst. 66 184 The human figure with the two supporting bird-headed manaias, a design recurring..through the whole field of Maori carving.
1933 W. de la Mare Fleeting & Other Poems 80 In your bird-eyed wonder.
1944 D. Stewart in D. M. Davin N.Z. Short Stories (1953) 171 I talked to her about bird-voiced Ana Hato at Rotorua.
1986 W. Balliett Amer. Musicians (1990) 240 Jackson is short and bird-boned.
1999 A. Arensberg Incubus v. xiv. 153 He called on Gilbert Barber, the head of the theology department, a bird-beaked man with a pin in his hip and, as he put it, ‘a relationship with pain’.
2000 Leyland's Austral. Winter 47/1 A life size replica of a bird footed dinosaur.
2019 A. Bobrow-Strain Death & Life Aida Hernandez xx. 217 As bird boned and frail looking as Jazmin appeared, she had somehow survived the chaos and abuse of her early life relatively unscathed.
e. Modifying adjectives, with the sense ‘like a bird; as —— as a bird’, as in bird-black, bird-blithe, bird-clear, bird-high.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > [adjective]
fainc888
gladlyc1000
golikc1175
gladful?c1225
joyfulc1290
joyousc1315
merryc1380
well begonea1425
frikec1430
rejoiced1533
delightful1534
rejoiceful1538
blitheful1559
gladded1569
blithelike1570
delighted1581
lighted1596
delighting1601
joyed1640
enjoying1651
gladdened1729
glad1799
like (or proud as) a dog with two tails1829
joyant1834
bird-blithe1917
gassed1941
enthralled1944
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > unpleasant quality > shrill quality > [adjective]
shillOE
brightOE
shrillc1386
sharp1390
keena1400
shirl1418
piercingc1425
acute1504
shrillish1583
shrilly1594
ear-piercinga1616
sonable1623
oxytonous1653
argute1719
snellc1730
chanticleering1786
criard1840
squealing1879
shrilled1880
bird-high1920
bleaty1925
stainless steel1963
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > types of vision > [adjective] > clear- or sharp-sighted > clear or sharp (of sight)
piercinga1400
clear1576
stark1589
lynceous1592
unshadowed1593
lyncean1622
cleared1642
unbeclouded1707
aquiline1791
bird-clear1938
1890 L. Hearn Two Years in French W. Indies 422 The bird-black eyes of both are fixed upon me with the oddest look of pleading.
1917 D. H. Lawrence Look! We have come Through! 84 You bird-blithe, lovely Angel in disguise.
1918 E. Sitwell Clowns' Houses 10 Amid thick leaves I saw the wink Of bird-black eyes.
1920 E. Sitwell Wooden Pegasus 81 Bird-high voices shrill and chatter.
1938 W. de la Mare Memory & Other Poems 16 Her glistening bird-clear eyes.
2004 W. J. Sutherland in W. J. Sutherland et al. Bird Ecol. & Conservation (2005) x. 248 For timid ground-feeding species, four corner posts with bird-high wires around and across the posts is often sufficient.
C2.
a.
bird band n. chiefly North American an identifying ring or band placed round the leg of a bird; cf. band n.2 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > [noun] > marking or ringing > ring
ring1887
leg ring1897
bird band1912
1912 Country Life in Amer. 1 Mar. 37/1 The question of whether young birds reared in beach nests return to the tree-nesting habit or vice versa suggests a rich field for research. Probably the only way to throw light on the subject would be by the use of metal bird-bands.
2015 M. S. Echols in C. B. Greenacre & T. Y. Morishita Backyard Poultry Med. & Surg. iv. 66/1 One may call 1-800-327-BAND to report a bird band and get specifics on the animal.
bird bander n. chiefly North American a person who places an identifying ring or band on a bird; = bander n. Additions 2.Cf. bird ringer n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > [noun] > marking or ringing > one who
ringer1909
bird ringer1911
bird bander1912
1912 Auk 29 281 During the summer of 1910 Mr. H. F. Witherby of London, England, issued to his staff of bird banders over 12,000 bands, and of these over 7900 were actually placed on birds.
2014 W. Young Fascination Birds xii. 33 Bird banders must be careful when handling cardinals, because the same powerful bill that grinds seeds can damage a bander's fingers.
bird banding n. chiefly North American the act or practice of placing an identifying ring or band on a bird.Cf. bird ringing n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > [noun] > marking or ringing
bird marking1892
bird banding1910
bird ringing1910
ringing1910
banding1914
1910 Wilson Bull. 22 53 On December 8, 1909, there was organized in New York City the American Bird Banding Association, the object of which is ‘the banding of wild birds and the recording of accurate data on their movements’.
2012 J. Domm Lorimer Field Guide 225 Ont. Birds p. xii Volunteering at one of the several bird observatories in Ontario where migration monitoring, including bird banding, is conducted.
bird bath n. a small basin or vessel, usually in a garden and typically on a short column, filled with water for birds to bathe in.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > [noun] > bird-bath
bird fountain1737
bird bath1847
1847 Daily Sentinel & Gaz. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin Territory) 22 June (advt.) Bird baths and fountains.
1933 Boys' Mag. 47 106/1 Some gardens boast of superb and ornamental bird baths.
2015 J. Cretti Rocky Mountain Month-by-Month Gardening 225/2 If you have a wildlife-friendly garden, set up a winter-proof birdbath to provide a fresh supply of water.
bird-batting n. now historical the action or practice of capturing roosting birds at night; = bat-fowling n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > [noun] > at night
bat-fowlingc1440
bird-batting1614
1614 T. S. Briefe Treat. Fowling in Iewell for Gentrie sig. Kv There is another manner of way to fowle which is with Nets,..which we call in England most commonly Birdbatting, and some call it lowbelling.
1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews I. ii. x. 230 Bird-batting..is performed by holding a large Clap-Net before a Lanthorn, and at the same time, beating the Bushes. View more context for this quotation
1898 J. M. Falkner Moonfleet (1970) vi. 75 The Manor had still a sweeter attraction to me than apples or bird-batting, and that was Grace Maskew.
1998 Gloucester Citizen (Nexis) 8 Sept. 6 Bird-batting was a night-time sport involving three people. One carried a snap-net, one a lantern, and the third a large stick with which to beat bushes.
bird box n. a small covered box for housing birds; (now) esp. such a box installed in a garden, park, or nature reserve for wild birds to use as a nest. Bird house is the more common term in North America.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > zoology > study of specific types of animal > [noun] > birds > equipment used in examining birds
bird box1803
syringe-gun1879
the world > animals > zoology > study of specific types of animal > [noun] > birds > nesting box
bird box1803
nest box1850
nesting box1869
1803 Aberdeen Jrnl. 27 Apr. (advt.) Bird Boxes and Fountains, Cruets, Mustard Pots and Retorts.
1843 Miss Leslie's Mag. Oct. 121/1 Here am I, within three weeks of being married, and not even a bird box to take my bride to when I get her.
1914 W. M. Webb in Bird-Lover i. 3 The requests for bird-boxes..led to the keeper being employed in autumn and winter in making them.
2013 Clean Slate Autumn 29/2 Throughout the spring and summer season we make and hang up bird boxes to help nesting birds.
bird-boy n. now historical a boy who works with birds in some way; spec. a boy employed to prevent birds from eating a crop or sown seeds, typically by scaring them away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > [noun] > driving away birds > bird-scarer
crow-keeper1562
field keeper1620
bird-boy1786
crow-herd1805
bird-minder1828
crow-minder1837
rook-boy1856
crow-boy1868
tenting-lad1877
tent-boy1888
tending boy1898
scarer1930
1786 M. A. Meilan tr. A. Berquin Children's Friend I. 64 The bird-boy..told all his comrades, that in such a street, there liv'd a little lady, who would buy up all their birds.
1809 ‘M. Markwell’ Advice to Sportsmen 26 The bird-boy trips over the fallow,..His note scareing pie, daw, and swallow.
1850 Househ. Words 31 Aug. 545/1 You shall be bird-boy when the sowing season comes on.
1992 A. Thorpe Ulverton iii. 60 My bird-boy bagged two ravens this morning with a sling-shot, and hung them out to smell off the others.
bird course n. Canadian a university or high school course regarded as requiring little work or intellectual ability.Perhaps with reference to the size of a bird’s brain, suggesting that students of such courses have limited academic ability (cf. bird-brained adj. at bird brain n. Derivatives).
ΘΚΠ
society > education > teaching > means of teaching > [noun] > class or course > types of
summer session1594
evening class1762
summer school1793
training course1822
shop class1844
elective1850
optional1855
night class1870
correspondence class1876
Chautauqua1884
correspondence course1902
gut1902
holiday course1906
shop1912
pud1917
training seminar1917
film school1929
day school1931
refresher1939
farm shop1941
survey course1941
weekend course1944
crash programme1947
sandwich course1955
thick sandwich1962
module1966
bird course1975
1975 Toronto Star 30 Aug. a2/2 One of the most popular targets for criticism has been the credit system, Rutledge said, ‘because the public has the impression that the students are just taking a bunch of bird courses’.
2018 Spectator (Hamilton, Ont.) (Nexis) 4 Oct. (Sports section) 1 When he signed up for the elective, he hadn't really expected to learn a lot. It was a bird course. His words. An easy credit.
bird feeder n. (a) a person who feeds birds.; (b) a container or platform placed outdoors for dispensing seeds and other food to wild birds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > providing or receiving food > feeding animals > [noun] > bird-feeding device
bird feeder1829
tit bell1929
seed feeder1944
1829 W. P. Scargill Rank & Talent I. vii. 103 The ingenious bird-feeder and fancier resided in an upper apartment.
1832 R. A. Slaney Outl. Smaller Brit. Birds iii. 102 The titmice, and many other birds, may be easily observed, and their habits watched, by placing a little tray, or bird-feeder, in a convenient position.
1911 Country Life Amer. 1 Dec. 56/2 An automatic bird feeder, protected by a dome of metal, is less elaborate than the food-house, and can be bought and permanently mounted with little expense and trouble.
1963 Times 19 Jan. 10/5 Even experienced bird feeders are constantly discovering new ways of helping old friends.
2006 Independent 10 Oct. 18/2 Thousands of Britain's most colourful garden bird species are falling victim to the infection, trichomoniasis, which is spread by contact, especially at bird tables and bird feeders.
bird flu n. influenza of a type that affects or originates in birds; cf. avian influenza n. at avian adj. Additions, avian flu n. at avian adj. Additions.Often used with reference to subtypes of influenza A that can be transmitted to humans.
ΚΠ
1972 C. Andrewes in Growing Points in Sci. (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) 134 Pereira and his colleagues at NIMR have even obtained hybrids between human and bird flu viruses.
1980 Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard 12 Aug. (Metro ed.) a9/1 I understand that a strange disease that is killing young harbor seals..is related somehow to the type of influenza sometimes found in birds. If that is true, does it also suggest that bird flu could spread to humans?
1997 Daily Tel. 8 Dec. 13/7 The Hong Kong government put hospitals, medical centres and health professionals on alert yesterday as a teenage girl who contracted a rare variety of influenza known as ‘bird flu’ fought for life.
2020 Powys County Times (Nexis) 11 Nov. Over the last two weeks, there have been findings in England of highly pathogenic bird flu H5N8 in domestic and wild birds.
bird folk n. birds considered collectively.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > [noun] > collective
fowl-kinc1000
volentinec1380
volatile1382
fowl1866
bird folk1878
1878 Friends' Intelligencer 2 Nov. 587/1 Why do they build their habitations in bleak situations where no friendly trees can lure the happy bird-folk to fill the air with gladness round them?
1901 F. T. Bullen Sack of Shakings 10 The hovering bird-folk gathered in myriads.
2011 Maroondah (Austral.) Leader (Nexis) 4 Oct. 21 Parrots and other bird folk be warned: If you want to be blessed this Sunday, there will be no squawking during the Rev Tim Gibson's sermon.
bird fountain n. a glass vessel specially constructed for caged birds to drink from (now historical); (in later use also) a bird bath equipped with a fountain.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > [noun] > bird-bath
bird fountain1737
bird bath1847
1737 Boston Gaz. 23 May A Choice Sortment of Delph, Stone, and Glass Ware.., Bird Fountains.., &c.
1867 Rep. before Joint. Comm. City Council of Boston upon Subj. of Gas 27 The water is kept in the bird-fountain by atmospheric pressure—no air being admitted into it.
1905 Amer. Ornithol. Mar. 132 The birds' nests about my place have increased almost six fold.., and..the main reason for this increase is to be found in my bird fountain.
2001 J. Turnbull Sc. Glass Ind. 1610–1750 iii. 57 A price list published by the Leith glassworks in 1797 contained no less than 156 items, ranging from bird fountains to eye glasses.
† birdgazer n. Obsolete a person who divines by means of the flight and cries of birds; an augur, a prophet.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > prediction, foretelling > divination by natural phenomena > divination by birds, augury > [noun] > one who practises
bird-conjurera1382
bird-speller1571
birdgazer1576
birdwatcher1712
orneoscopist1727
orniscopist1755
1576 W. Blandie tr. J. Osório Fiue Bks. iii. f. Bb.2 What say you to straunge sightes, monsters, the aunswers of Birdgazers, and Southsayers, what greate force haue they to rebate and appaule the courage of men?
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xxii. 383 Cato wondered how two Birdgazers could meete..or looke one vpon another without laughing.
1870 S. Thelwall tr. Tertullian Writings III. 200 Other scientific arts of public utility I boast. From my store are clothed..the astrologer, and the birdgazer.
bird glasses n. a pair of binoculars for observing wild birds in their natural habitat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > instrument for distant vision > [noun] > binoculars or field-glasses
prospective glass1616
spectacle telescope1728
field glass1782
race-glass1843
racing glass1854
bird glasses1900
prism binocular1901
prismatic binoculars1905
1900 Optical Jrnl. July 587 (advt.) Telescopes, Bird Glasses, Race Glasses.
1924 R. Macaulay Orphan Island iii William..produced his bird-glasses and said no, it would, on the other hand, be a frigate-bird.
2016 Fort Erie (Ontario) Post (Nexis) 21 Apr. Opinion 1 I watched with my bird glasses as the owl perched blinking at the black birds as they tormented him.
bird-hipped adj. designating (a group of) dinosaurs having a pelvic structure superficially resembling that of birds, with the pubis pointing backwards; characterized by such a pelvic structure; = ornithischian adj.Contrasted with lizard-hipped adj. at lizard n. Additions.
ΚΠ
1922 C. L. Abbott What comes from What 34 The dinosaurs are divided into two groups, the Saurischia (Lizard-hipped) and the Ornithischia (Bird-hipped).
1966 P. B. Weisz Sci. of Zool. xxxii. 811/2 This ‘bird-hipped’ condition had already existed in one group of archisaurian dinosaurs.
2020 D. W. Linzey Vertebr. Biol. vi. 156/2 The most notable revision grafts the theropod lizard-hipped lineage onto the branch containing all of the bird-hipped (ornithischian) dinosaurs.
bird hit n. a collision between one or more birds and an aircraft, typically involving the birds being sucked into the aircraft's engines; cf. bird strike n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > [noun] > collision between bird and aircraft
bird strike1943
bird hit1971
1971 Winnipeg Free Press 29 July (Final ed.) 8/5 Birds near low-flying aircraft have been known to cause air accidents. ‘Bird hits’ as the radar site spokeman called them have taken place before during these exercises.
1980 Times of India 24 Oct. 9/1 An Indian Air Force Sukhey fighter (S-22) aircraft crashed..in West Delhi this morning after a bird-hit.
1992 Hindu 13 Sept. (Delhi ed.) 4/2 A scheduled Indian Airlines Kochi-Bangalore-Madras Boeing-737 flight suffered a ‘bird-hit’ while it was taking off from the Bangalore airport this morning.
2019 Daily Times (Pakistan) (Nexis) 8 Sept. The bird hit should not be taken lightly as it may end up into a disaster and a nightmare for the travelers as well as for any airline.
birdlife n. wild birds collectively; the native or resident birds of a region; cf. avifauna n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > [noun] > of a region
birdlife1834
ornis1861
avifauna1874
1834 G. Bennett Wanderings New S. Wales II. App. 374 We were inclined to consider this wanton act a useless destruction of bird-life; but his companions seemed to regard it only in the light of a fine, fat, oily prize.
1860 Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. 1857–60 4 104 By the presence of bird life, mostly marine, on what would be the icy shores of this suspected sea, and which migrates northward in spring.
1934 Discovery Oct. 293/1 It is not true..that bird-life in this country is decreasing and that the future of British bird-life is one of depleted numbers.
2016 Daily Tel. 25 Aug. 12/3 (advt.) There is an abundance of birdlife in the area including Great Albatross, Banded Albatross.., Prions and Shag.
bird marking n. the act or practice of adding an identifying mark or marker to a bird, esp. a mark made using coloured ink.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > [noun] > marking or ringing
bird marking1892
bird banding1910
bird ringing1910
ringing1910
banding1914
1892 Amer. Homing News 1 Apr. 8/2 (advt.) Our ink pad is specially adapted for bird marking.
1909 Brit. Birds 1 Apr. 364 To show the value of bird-marking I conclude by giving short summaries of the results obtained at Rossitten.
2005 Southland (N.Z.) Times (Nexis) 16 Feb. The acid was probably used..to dye feathers during a bird marking programme about 10 years ago.
bird mask n. a mask resembling a bird's face.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > means of concealment > dress, garb > [noun] > for face or head
visorc1380
visernc1400
visurec1460
visiere1485
vizard1558
vision1563
bo-peeper1609
larvea1656
outsidea1656
vizard-mask1668
visor-mask1672
face mask1754
crape1785
false face1817
bird mask1853
vizarding1861
stocking mask1966
ski-mask1973
1853 W. J. Hickie in tr. Aristophanes Comedies I. 337 A female performer on the flute..now enters dressed as a bird, and with a bird-mask..covering her face.
1958 E. A. Armstrong Folklore of Birds i. 11 Some of the other human figures are indeed bird-headed and presumably wearing bird masks.
2015 Ambit 219 83 Doing crazy, spontaneous things with you such as..going on a walk to Grantchester Meadows in bird masks.
bird-masked adj. wearing a bird mask.
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the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > means of concealment > dress, garb > [adjective] > to conceal head or face
visoredc1380
in masker1519
in maska1533
muffled1566
vizarded1593
viserneda1599
masked1599
bemasked1620
larvated1623
crape-faced1815
bird-masked1876
stocking-masked1971
ski-masked1976
1876 Academy 13 May 466/1 The quiescence of the bird-masked chorus.
1958 E. A. Armstrong Folklore of Birds i. 16 A group of people..including apparently bird-masked officiants.
2014 Times (Nexis) 27 Aug. At the show's climax, Bush metamorphoses, sprouting great black wings as she joins the dawn chorus with her bird-masked band and actors.
bird-minder n. chiefly U.S. regional (southern); now historical a person employed to prevent birds from eating a crop, typically by scaring them away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > [noun] > driving away birds > bird-scarer
crow-keeper1562
field keeper1620
bird-boy1786
crow-herd1805
bird-minder1828
crow-minder1837
rook-boy1856
crow-boy1868
tenting-lad1877
tent-boy1888
tending boy1898
scarer1930
1828 Southern Agriculturist Nov. 496 The bird-minder is desired, in the spring season, to shoot principally the hen bird.
1942 J. S. Pudney Green Grass grew all Round (1944) viii. 52 I can remember the bird-minders arriving every year to look after the cherry orchards.
2013 Environmental Hist. 18 143 As a young boy, he had served as a ‘bird-minder’ on the plantation, waiting at daybreak to scare birds away from the valuable rice crops.
bird-mouthed adj. Scottish, Irish English (northern), and English regional (east midlands) reluctant or scared to speak out.
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the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > equivocal quality, ambiguity > [adjective] > of persons, speech
ambiguous1560
meal-mouthed1570
mealy-mouthed1571
mealy1573
mealmouth1575
Janian1598
equivocant1609
bird-mouthed1610
equivocating1645
Janus-like1656
Janus-faceda1682
equivocatory1821
Samsonian1861
weasel1912
weasel-worded1923
stuttery1937
bet-hedging1971
1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xviii. liii. 746 They [sc. the disciples] were not bird-mouthed vnto him [sc. Christ].
1837 J. Galt Let. 12 June in Fraser's Mag. July 24 I am not deemed bird-mouthed on peremptory occasions.
2016 Straits Times (Singapore) (Nexis) 31 May The delay with the tyres was so significant that even the normally bird-mouthed Marko was moved to comment.
bird net n. a net used to catch birds.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > fowling equipment > [noun] > net
plover net1404
tunnelc1440
setter1526
trammel1530
bird net1533
day net1576
road net1581
sparrow-net1621
shaw-net1648
trammel-net1648
spreadnet1661
pocket-hay1704
bramble-net1706
clap-net1708
tunnel-net1721
funnel-net1774
bow-net1875
flight net1889
house trap1903
pouting-net1905
1533–4 Act 25 Henry VIII c. 7 in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 442 By meanes of any wele butte nett berd net of heare.
1659 C. Hoole tr. J. A. Comenius Orbis Sensualium Pictus 106 The Fowler..maketh a bed,..spreadeth a Bird-net.
1871 R. Rowe Episodes in Obscure Life I. x. 165 I'll have nothin' more to do with you, 'cept to start you with a bird-net, an' buy your birds.
1970 Water Pollution–1970: Pt. 3: Hearings before Subcomm. of Comm. Publ. Works (U.S. Senate: 91st Congr., 2nd Sess.) 1067 176 traps were set for four days each spring along the paths used for operating the bird nets.
bird observatory n. a building or facility where birds are observed and studied, and research is carried out.
ΚΠ
1888 Trans. Cumberland & Westmorland Assoc. for Advancement Lit. & Sci. 13 71 Mr. H. Gätke's delightful bird observatory on Heligoland.
1949 Studies: Irish Q. Rev. 38 43 The erection of a Bird Observatory with a bird-ringing station to further the knowledge of migration.
2012 J. Domm Lorimer Field Guide 225 Ont. Birds p. xii Volunteering at one of the several bird observatories in Ontario where migration monitoring, including bird banding, is conducted.
bird organ n. now historical a small barrel organ originally designed for teaching caged birds to sing; = serinette n.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > types of organ > [noun] > other types of organ
great organ1605
bird organ1745
serinette1772
euharmonic organ1811
physharmonica1838
harmoniphon1839
seraphine1839
pyrophone1873
string organ1876
orguinette1881
orchestrelle1897
1745 London Evening-post 5–7 Nov. J. Tax..Makes and mends all Sorts of Musical Boxes, or Bird Organs, for teaching Birds better than with a Flageolet.
1853 W. M. Thackeray Eng. Humourists iv. 177 A minuet-tune played on a bird-organ.
2006 R. Kassel in D. E. Bush & R. Kassel Organ 324/1 The pinned rotating cylinder was also the mechanism used in the eighteenth-century bird organ (or serinette), designed to teach real birds to sing popular melodies.
† bird-pole n. Obsolete a pole used by fowlers in the course of catching birds; cf. fowling-pole n. at fowling n. Compounds.
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1755 A. Berthelson tr. E. Pontoppidan Nat. Hist. Norway 60 They give them each their bird-pole in their hands.
1859 H. C. Folkard Wild-fowler lxvi. 348 The fowler, with the aid of the bird-pole, casts himself several fathoms from the rock.
1897 H. A. Macpherson Hist. Fowling 138 This bird-pole was called the ‘Kia’ or ‘Kia-manu’.
bird ringer n. chiefly British a person who places an identifying ring or band on a bird; = ringer n.3 4.Cf. bird bander n.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > [noun] > marking or ringing > one who
ringer1909
bird ringer1911
bird bander1912
1911 Daily Mail 3 Mar. 6/5 (heading) The bird ringers at work.
2018 Westmorland Gaz. (Nexis) 13 July Staff from Cumbria Wildlife Trust visited the nest site, to accompany a licenced and experienced bird ringer, brought in to tag the chicks.
bird ringing n. chiefly British the act or practice of placing an identifying ring or band on a bird.Cf. bird banding n.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > [noun] > marking or ringing
bird marking1892
bird banding1910
bird ringing1910
ringing1910
banding1914
1910 Devon & Exeter Daily Gaz. 28 May 3/6 A scheme..which is known as bird ringing. As in the case of the fish, metal rings are issued by the authorities responsible for the carrying out of the scheme.
2017 Diversity & Distributions 23 28/2 Bird ringing in Europe is coordinated by national ringing schemes.
bird room n. a room in which birds are kept; an aviary.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > [noun] > aviary
aviary1577
volary1627
volliere1638
volatory1656
birdhouse1687
menagerie1749
bird room1776
birdery1816
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > others
speech-housec1050
watching-chamber1533
music room1608
service room1669
amphitheatre1694
lararium1706
well-room1731
lumber room1740
water room1774
bird room1776
grubbery1791
bookery1798
study1808
service room1833
selamlik1838
serving room1838
social space1851
mail room1856
rumpus room1930
birthing room1936
home office1960
romper room1961
dungeon1969
1776 Daily Advertiser 16 Nov. A report having been circulated..that the Bird-Room was shut up, and no more Birds to be sold there.
1860 H. Cullwick Diary 16 July (1984) 107 Swept the birdroom & dusted the other rooms.
1919 Auk 36 166 Mrs. Miller had about thirty-five species of birds which she bought from the bird stores in winter and allowed to fly about in her bird room, where she could study them unobtrusively at her desk by means of skillfully arranged mirrors.
2006 Cage & Aviary Birds 1 June 20/2 We now have a 3.6m x 2.4m..double-glazed birdroom with a large flight and 12 breeding cages.
bird sanctuary n. an area set aside as a secure habitat where (endangered or rare) birds are protected and encouraged to breed.
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the world > life > biology > collection or conservation of natural specimens > sanctuary or reserve > [noun] > specific for birds
bird sanctuary1883
refuge1892
1883 C. F. Gordon-Cumming In Hebrides x. 326 Mr. Macaulay says that in his day the isle Lij was set apart as a bird sanctuary, from which no eggs were ever taken.
1927 Observer 7 Aug. 3 Cannon Hill Common, Merton, Surrey,..is to have a bird sanctuary.
2015 N.Y. Times Mag. 15 Mar. 30/2 [He]..can be found at his bird sanctuary in Mysore, India, home to more than a thousand birds.
birdseed n. (as a mass noun) a mixture of various kinds of grain used as food for birds; = seed n. 1d.
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the world > food and drink > food > animal food > [noun] > food eaten by birds > food for caged birds
seed1562
Canary seed1578
alpiste1597
birdseed1661
1661 T. Salusbury Math. Coll. & Transl. I. 329 (margin) Panicum, a small grain like to Mill, I take it to be the same with that called Bird Seed.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. xiii. 163 I can buy some birdseed.
1909 Daily Chron. 25 Sept. 5/3 A bird-seed company.
2000 B. Kingsolver Prodigal Summer iv. 53 A few titmice and chickadees were congregating at the spot underneath a chokecherry..where she always scattered birdseed.
birdshot n. originally U.S. shot (shot n.1 15a) of the smallest size intended for hunting birds; = dust-shot n. at dust n.1 Compounds 5.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > missile > ammunition for firearms > [noun] > bullet or shot collectively > shot > small
pellet1372
die?c1390
hail-shot1485
die-shot1581
dice-shot1588
birdshot1626
key-shot1648
mould shot1675
cartridge-shot1690
small shot1727
drop1753
shot-cornc1792
dust-shot1800
sparrow-hail1859
steel1898
scattershot1961
1626 in Acts Privy Council Eng. (1938) 227 The other letter for the making of shott, in reguard wee finde by the postscript of your letter that the most parte thereof was but birdshott wee have not thought fitt to give any direccion from the Board.
1630 J. Winthrop Let. 14 Aug. in Winthrop Papers (1931) II. 310 We have powder and peeces enough, but want flintes and birdshott.
1765 R. Jones New Treat. Artific. Fireworks 33 Sift what remains..with sieves of different sizes, till the iron will pass through about the bigness of small bird shot.
1884 Harper's Mag. Apr. 742/1 I could kill him with bird-shot.
2006 Philadelphia May 163/2 Instead of grabbing birdshot, he had loaded the gun with rifled slugs, solid lumps of metal.
birdsong n. vocalization by one or more birds; esp. such vocalization likened to a musical performance; cf. song n.1 3a.
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the world > animals > birds > sound or bird defined by > [noun] > song
songeOE
lay13..
notec1330
shouting1508
record1582
charm1587
roundelay1588
ramage?1614
ornithology1655
jerk1675
birdsong1834
roll1933
1834 Portland Mag. Oct. 28 When the herb drank the dew and the bird-song was done.
a1894 R. L. Stevenson in Wks. (1895) XIV. 288 Bird-song at morning.
1927 E. M. Nicholson How Birds Live iv. 39 It has become impossible now to treat the subject of territory without taking into consideration bird-song.
2017 Hobart Mercury (Nexis) 7 Nov. 18 The symphony of spring birdsong, the music of the woods, was in full flight.
bird spit n. (a) a spit for roasting birds on; †(b) figurative a rapier (obsolete).
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > sharp weapon > side arms > sword > [noun] > rapier
bird spitc1450
rapier1503
tuck1508
Spanish sword?1533
walking rapier?1620
single rapier1709
flamberg1885
c1450 Treat. Fishing in J. McDonald et al. Origins of Angling (1963) 149 Take a bryd spytte & bryn hym.
1599 G. Silver Paradoxes Def. sig. A5v When the battels are ioyned..there is no roome for them to drawe their Bird-spits.
1607 G. Wilkins Miseries Enforced Marriage in W. C. Hazlitt Dodsley's Sel. Coll. Old Eng. Plays (1874) IX. 563 Put up your bird-spit, tut, I fear it not.
1893 County Gentleman 14 Jan. 47/3 The broadsword was the national weapon rather than the ‘bird-spit and frog-pricking poignard’ in which foreigners excelled.
1926 Daily Mail 3 Nov. 15/4 On a home-made bird-spit—you can do wonders with a piece or two of old iron and some wire—I roast the snipe.
2004 Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) 28 Mar. 2 g/6 Fireplace wrought iron meat grill..; rooster weathervane; bird spit with 3 penny feet; [etc].
birdstone n. any of a number of small stone artefacts carved into the shape of a bird found on the east coast of North America. Such artefacts are believed to have been made by indigenous peoples of North America between 5,000 and 2,500 years ago to serve as weights fastened on to the ends of sticks (called atlatls: see atlatl n.) used to propel spears or darts.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > plastic art > statuary > [noun] > statue > Palaeolithic or Neolithic
birdstone1881
Venus1912
fiddle idol1939
1881 C. C. Abbott Primitive Industry 365 The curious carved ‘bird stones’, common to our Atlantic coast states.
1907 F. W. Hodge Handbk. Amer. Indians I. 148/1 Bird-stones, a name given to a class of prehistoric stone objects of undetermined purpose, usually resembling or remotely suggesting the form of a bird.
2012 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 8 June c28/5 Scholars have suggested that the artifacts, known as birdstones and documented in excavations dating back to the 1840s, were amulets or perhaps finials for ceremonial staffs.
bird strike n. a collision between one or more birds and an aircraft, typically involving the birds being sucked into the aircraft's engines; also as a mass noun; cf. bird hit n.
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society > travel > air or space travel > specific movements or positions of aircraft > [noun] > collision between bird and aircraft
bird strike1943
bird hit1971
1943 SAE Trans. (Soc. Automotive Engineers) 51 354/1 The dual pane installation has proved considerably more resistant to bird-strikes than have the windshields with which the airplanes were previously equipped.
1960 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gaz. 16 Nov. 14/4 The view..that the crash was caused by birds being ingested into the engine as the plane took off. But Smith said the evidence ‘does not support the bird strike theory as the major cause of the Boston accident’.
1991 Working Terrier Feb. 30/2 There is something particularly endearing about people who site an aircraft range next to the wintering ground of 35,000 greylag geese and then complain about bird strike.
2009 Vanity Fair June 90/2 After [the pilot] Sullenberger took the side-stick following the bird strike, the decision to go for the Hudson was not entirely his.
bird table n. chiefly British and Irish English a type of bird feeder consisting of a raised platform on which birdseed or other food for wild birds is placed.
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the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping birds > [noun] > place for feeding
bird table1877
1877 St. Nicholas Jan. 220/2 To lessen the expense we mixed corn-meal and oats with the seed, and so kept our bird-table constantly spread till mild weather set in.
1905 Country-side 1 82/3 A cock chaffinch will often play the bully at your bird-table.
2012 F. Robyn Most Beautiful Thing 21 Eventually he persuaded his mum to get a bird table of their own, and a bird identification book.
bird-tenting n. English regional (northern) (now rare) the activity or practice of guarding crops, seed, etc., from birds, typically by scaring them away; cf. tent v.1 6.
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the world > animals > zoology > study of specific types of animal > [noun] > birds > conservation of birds
bird-tenting1845
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > [noun] > driving away birds
bird-tenting1845
rooking1877
1845 Minutes Comm. Council Educ. 1844 II. 466 Their children..can earn any trifling sum..during the times of ‘bird-tenting’, harvest, potato-getting, &c.
1935 Nottingham Evening Post 27 Dec. 9/5 The profession of ‘bird-tenting’ did not offer a living wage.
bird walk n. a walk undertaken (typically by a group under the guidance of an expert) to observe and study wild birds in their natural environment.
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society > travel > aspects of travel > going on foot > [noun] > walk with specific purpose
walk1608
bird walk1887
hunger-march1908
protest march1914
padayatra1956
charity walk1983
1887 Trans. Ottawa Field-naturalists' Club 3 36 The study of birds is as well suited to the gentler sex as to the sterner, and..I see no reason why each of us should not have for his companion in his ‘bird-walks’ a sister, a cousin, or even a more distant relation.
1904 Harper's Bazar Feb. 155/1 My enthusiasm has been rewarded with invitations to accompany other classes which Miss Moore conducts on bird-walks in various suburbs of New York city.
2013 Times 19 Jan. (Weekend section) 3/4 Bird walk for beginners... Learn the basics of birdwatching on this family winter walk with RSPB experts.
bird-witted adj. easily distracted; foolish, scatterbrained, bird-brained.
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the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > giddiness, empty-headedness > [adjective]
idlec825
giddyc1000
volage?a1366
apec1370
foolisha1382
vain1390
idleful1483
volageous1487
glaikit1488
cock-brained1530
apish1532
empty1550
sillyc1555
frivolous?1563
tickle-headed1583
light-braineda1593
frothy1593
owlish1596
bird-witted1605
empty-headed1614
idle-headed1614
empty-pateda1628
marmosetical1630
grollish1637
feather-headed1647
nonsense1647
whirl-crowned1648
feather-brained1649
swimmering1650
soft-pated1651
weather-headeda1652
shuttlecock1660
drum-headed1664
chicken-brained1678
halokit1724
desipient1727
shatter-pated1727
scattered-brained1747
light-thoughted1777
scatter-brained1804
shandy-pated1806
hellicat1815
feather-pated1819
inane1819
weather-brained1826
bubble-headed1827
tomfoolish1838
bird-brained1892
tottle1894
fluffy1898
scatty1911
wandery1912
scattery1924
twitterpated1943
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Ss2 If a Child be Bird-witted, that is, hath not the facultie of attention, the Mathematiques giueth a remedy thereunto. View more context for this quotation
1658 tr. J. Ussher Ann. World 360 [He] proved..but a bird-witted man.
1866 W. Collins Armadale I. 81 ‘Only think! we laid the first planks of the deck, the day before yesterday,’ said Allan, flying off to the new subject in his usual bird-witted way.
1913 G. W. E. Russell Half-lengths v. 118 ‘Tuppence, you're bird-witted,’ was the remonstrant outcry of the impatient Tutor when the boy's large eyes wandered through the pupil-room window.
2007 A. Theroux Laura Warholic iv. 26 A masterpiece of novel..that had been notoriously mishandled for years by..a series of bird-witted editors.
bird-wittedness n. the condition or state of being bird-witted.
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the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > foolishness, folly > giddiness, empty-headedness > [noun]
giddiheadc1275
giddinessa1290
lighthead1340
vanityc1386
glaikitnessa1500
idleness1535
levity1564
emptiness1577
vainness1591
frivolousnessa1631
volageness1633
grollery1637
brain-giddinessa1652
desipience1656
desipiencya1682
frothinessa1716
inanity1756
frivolity1796
unpracticalness1828
unpracticality1840
bird-wittedness1854
scattiness1959
1854 Discuss. Secularism: Rep. Public Discuss. between Rev. B. Grant & G. J. Holyoake 114 As if..the only morality of belief lay in birdwittedness.
1904 T. Raymont Princ. Educ. x. 231 The deliberate cultivation of mere irrelevance and bird-wittedness.
1965 Times 22 Mar. 12/6 There came a time when we felt we could stand his bird-wittedness no longer.
b. In the names of plants and animals.
bird-catching spider n. now rare any of various large hairy South American spiders of the family Theraphosidae, which have been known to kill small birds; a bird-eating spider (see bird-eating spider n.).Cf. bird spider n.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > division Tetrapneumones > member of family Aviculariidae
bird spider1763
bird-catching spider1789
bird's nest spider1881
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > division Tetrapneumones > family Mygalidae > genus or member of genus Mygale
bird spider1763
bird-catching spider1789
tarantula1794
mygale1823
1789 G. Shaw Vivarium Naturæ, or Naturalist’s Misc. I. Pl. 12 (heading) The bird-catching spider.
1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. II. 464 The Bird-catching Spider..cannot be beholden without the most violent sensations of horror.
1952 Ann. Rep. Board Regents Smithsonian Inst. 1951 302 Among other invertebrates the giant bird-catching spider 8 inches across should be mentioned.
bird cherry n. (also †bird's cherry) any of several wild cherries; esp. the Eurasian species Prunus padus, which has long racemes of white blossoms and small black astringent fruit; (occasionally also) a fruit of this tree.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > trees or plants bearing stone fruit > cherry tree > types of
mahaleb1558
goynire1572
mazzard1578
bird cherry1597
ground-cherry1601
wild cherry1666
red cherry1681
Royal Ann1724
sand cherry1778
rum cherry1818
marasca1852
sakura1884
black cherry1898
Japanese cherry1901
Tibetan cherry1948
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > trees or plants bearing stone fruit > cherry tree > bird-cherry tree
bird cherry1597
hagberry1597
hackberry1726
cluster-cherry1731
hackwood1853
1597 J. Gerard Herball iii. 1322 The Birds Cherrie tree, or the black Cherrie tree..vsed for stocks to graffe other Cherries vpon.
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole 599 The blossomes are small and white, many growing together vpon a long stalke, somewhat like the Bird Cherry blossomes, but smaller.
1863 C. Kingsley Water-babies i. 14 The bird-cherry with its tassels of snow.
1943 Science 16 Apr. 355/2 Flour made from bird cherries gave excellent results in cakes.
2015 Church Times 27 Mar. 19/1 Prunus padus, the bird cherry, is native to northern Europe, including Britain.
bird fly n. any of various bloodsucking flies, esp. of the genus Ornithomya (family Hippoboscidae), which are parasites of birds.Cf. bird spider fly n.
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1816 Ann. Philos. 7 366 (heading) Description of the Bird Fly.
1947 C. L. Walton Farmers' Warfare iii. 56 On another occasion a man picked up a young hawk and got three ‘Bird Flies’ (Ornithomyia) up his sleeves.
1994 D. S. Hill & J. D. Hill Agric. Entomol. xi. 389 Many of the bird flies are fully winged and they fly strongly—most have to be able to search for a host and then fly on to it.
bird louse n. any of various lice of the group Mallophaga which are parasites mainly of birds.Cf. mallophagan n.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > group Anoplura > order Mallophaga > member of
bird louse1806
1806 Med. Repository 2nd Hexade 4 164 Bird-lice, ricinus, one genus.
1947 A. D. Imms Outl. Entomol. (ed. 3) iv. 120 The Mallophaga or bird-lice are chiefly avian parasites: they are much less often found on mammals.
2014 Philadelphia Inquirer 31 Dec. a3 He brought with him a collection of 6,600 bird lice, ranging in size from something as small as a grain of pepper, which might infest a tiny songbird, to a half-inch louse that lives on a hawk.
† bird-nut n. Obsolete the nut of the common European walnut, Juglans regia, which has a kernel thought to resemble a bird with outstretched wings; (also) the tree itself.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible nuts or nut-trees > [noun] > walnut > types of
French walnut1639
bird-nut1676
tender-skull1691
high-flyer1820
1676 J. Worlidge Vinetum Britannicum 180 Called the Bird-nut, from the resemblance the Kernel hath to a Bird, with its Wings displayed..after the Nut is slit in the middle.
1884 Garden 6 Dec. 480/1 (note) Large Walnuts.—These are called In Shropshire Banats, which is said to be a corruption of bird-nut, from some resemblance to a bird when opened.
bird pepper n. a small, pungent variety of capsicum pepper; spec. Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum, thought to be the ancestor of both sweet and chilli peppers; (also) a plant producing such peppers.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > fruits as vegetables > capsicum > types of
green pepper1565
case pepper1631
bird pepper1696
bell-pepper1707
goat peppera1726
bayberry1756
bird's eye pepper1829
bird's eye1842
pimiento1845
bird's eye chilli1851
paprika1851
pimento1885
datil1900
chile ancho1906
chile mulato1907
pasilla1929
jalapeño pepper1949
poblano1950
Serrano1952
chile poblano1972
1696 H. Sloane Catal. Plantarum in Jamaica 112 Bird Pepper.
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 176 Bird Pepper... The capsule and seeds..are used by most people in these colonies.
1975 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 102 397/2 Capsicum annuum var. aviculare, the ‘bird pepper’ or ‘chilipequin’ has been proposed as the wild progenitor species of domesticated C. annuum.
2013 Tampa (Florida) Tribune (Nexis) 8 Sept. (Baylife & Travel section) 8 Bird pepper is used as a spice in salsas, sauces and soups.
bird snake n. any of the venomous arboreal colubrid snakes comprising the genus Thelotornis, which are native to sub-Saharan Africa and prey on lizards, frogs, and birds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Colubridae > member of genus Thelotornis (bird-snake)
bird snake1910
1910 F. W. Fitzsimons Snakes S. Afr. iii. 57/1 Thelotornis kirtlandii. Bird Snake... Distribution Tropical Africa. All over South Africa.
1954 J. A. Pringle Common Snakes 4 The Bird-snake has a long thin body which is admirably suited for its arboreal life... It is common in the Lowveld of the Transvaal.
2010 J. Murphy Secrets Snake Charmer iv. 73 He removed a Bird Snake..from its cage and was playing with it, probably in an effort to aggravate it so that it would expand its neck and throat in a spectacular defense display.
bird spider n. any of various large hairy South American spiders of the family Theraphosidae, which have been known to kill small birds; a bird-eating spider.Cf. bird-catching spider n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > division Tetrapneumones > member of family Aviculariidae
bird spider1763
bird-catching spider1789
bird's nest spider1881
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > division Tetrapneumones > family Mygalidae > genus or member of genus Mygale
bird spider1763
bird-catching spider1789
tarantula1794
mygale1823
1763 R. Brookes New Syst. Nat. Hist. IV. xii. 261 Linnæus takes notice only of six Spiders, namely, the greatest Spider; the house Spider; the bag-bearing Spider; the water Spider; the bird Spider; and the Tarantula.
1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. III. xxviii. 40 In the class Arachnida, the bird-spiders (Mygale) are amongst the principal giants.
2003 S. Wales Evening Post (Nexis) 25 Sept. 9 The pink-toed tarantula, also known as an orange-tipped bird spider, usually preys on insects, reptiles, tree frogs and sometimes small roosting birds in the wild.
† bird spider fly n. Obsolete any of several bloodsucking flies of the genus Ornithomya (family Hippoboscidae), which are parasites of birds and thought to resemble spiders; esp. O. avicularia.Cf. bird fly n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Cyclorrhapha > group Pupipara or Nymphipara > family Hippoboscidae > ornithomyia avicularia
bird spider fly1811
1811 A. Rees Cycl. (1819) XVIII. at Hippobosca Avicularia... Bird spider fly... Infests birds.., secreting itself among the feathers, and subsisting on their blood.
1895 E. A. Ormerod Rep. Observ. Injurious Insects 1894 110 His own minute observations of organisation, and more especially visceral organisation, of the Pupipara as especially studied by him in the..Ornithomyia viridis (Bird Spider Fly).
bird tick n. (a) any of various bloodsucking flies which are parasites of birds; cf. bird fly n., bird spider fly n. (now rare); (b) any of various ticks which are parasites of birds.
ΚΠ
1833 G. Samouelle Entomol. Cabinet I. No. 2. Fig. 4 Ornithomyia avicularia... Bird Fly or Bird Tick... This singular insect..is found on the swallow and several other species of birds.
1883 Gen. Index 13 Ann. Rep. Entomol. Soc. Ont. 1870–82 16 Bird Tick (Dermanyssus avium).
1938 C. S. Brimley Insects N. Carolina 389 (heading) Family Hippoboscidae, The Bird Ticks or Tick Flies.
2005 N. McKilligan Herons, Egrets & Bitterns vi. 60 Egret chicks sometimes carried heavy infestations of the bird tick Argas robertsi.
C3. Compounds with bird's.
a.
bird's beak moulding n. Architecture a cornice moulding the section (section n. 3d) of which consists of an ovolo at the top under which is an ogee, and which forms a sharp point where they meet.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > architectural ornament > [noun] > moulding > other mouldings
bowtell1376
crownwork1594
protypum1601
chaplet1623
bandeleta1645
bedding-moulding1664
quadra1664
surbase1678
platband1696
bed-moulding1703
eyebrow1703
square1703
gorge1706
nerve1728
heel1734
quirk-moulding1776
star1781
bead1799
rope moulding1813
zigzag1814
chevron-moulding1815
nebule1823
billet1835
dancette1838
pellet moulding1838
vignette moulding1842
bird's beak moulding1845
beak-head ornament1848
beak-head1849
billet moulding1851
beading1858
bead-work1881
Venetian dentil1892
chevron-work-
1845 J. Narrien Archit. in Encycl. Metrop. V. 243/1 The bird's-beak moulding is that which most frequently occurs in the Greek edifices.
1918 Amer. Jrnl. Archaeol. 22 22 The bird's beak moulding which appears at several places in the Parthenon, is of course undercut for the sake of the shadow.
2008 N. Davies & E. Jokiniemi Dict. Archit. & Building Constr. 35/1 Bird's beak moulding: a decorative quadrant moulding with a concave underside.
bird's mouth n. Building and Joinery a triangular right-angled notch formed in the end of a timber (timber n.1 3a) to enable it to be securely fixed to a rectangular timber.
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the world > space > shape > angularity > [noun] > angle or corner > internal or pointing inward > cut out of a piece of timber
bird's mouth1755
1755 J. Muller Treat. Pract. Part Fortification iii. xxi. 231 Their struts let into them with a small shoulder, commonly called by workmen, bird's mouth.
1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 191 Fitted..to its bearings, and to the newel, with a re-entrant angle, or bird's mouth.
1968 G. Slatter Pagan Game 17 The rafters that broke without warning, the birdmouths that would not fit on the top plate, the undulating soffits.
2021 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 24 Feb. a4/4 Age-old construction techniques, like a ‘bird's mouth’ joint cut, securely..bind hefty beams.
b. In the names of plants. See also bird's eye n., bird's-foot n., bird's nest n.
bird's bill n. rare bird's-foot clover, Trifolium ornithopodioides.Apparently attested only in dictionaries and glossaries.
ΚΠ
1840 J. Paxton & J. Lindley Pocket Bot. Dict. 44/2 Bird's-bill, see Trigonella ornithopodioides.
1970 C. C. Plowden Man. Plant Names (ed. 2) 126/1 Bird's bill, Trigonella ornithopodoides.
bird's bread n. any of various sempervivums or sedums; spec. biting stonecrop, Sedum acre.Now chiefly in lists of alternative names for the plant.
ΚΠ
1657 R. Tomlinson tr. J. de Renou Medicinal Materials i, in Medicinal Dispensatory sig. Zz2 There are very many lesser Sempervives, the least whereof the Greeks call ἀνδραχνὴ ἀγρία, the vulgarity Birds-bread.
1864 Dollar Monthly Mag. June 493/1 Sedum acre, blossoming when the young birds are hatching, is called birds'-bread.
1984 Bull. N.Y. State Mus. No. 454 11 Sedum acre... Other Names. Wallpepper, Love-entangle(d), Biting Stonecrop, Bird's-bread,..Treasure-of-love.
† bird's orchis n. Obsolete rare an orchid having purple flowers thought to resemble birds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > leguminous plants > [noun] > arachis
bird's orchis1597
arachis1853
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > orchids
satyrionOE
bollockwort?a1300
sanicle14..
bollock?a1425
martagon1548
orchis1559
dogstones1562
hare's-ballocks1562
stone1562
bollock grass1578
dog's cods1578
dog's cullions1578
double-leaf1578
fly-orchis1578
goat's cullions1578
goat's orchis1578
priest's pintle1578
twayblade1578
bee-orchis1597
bifoil1597
bird's nest1597
bird's orchis1597
butterfly orchis1597
fenny-stones1597
gelded satyrion1597
gnat satyrion1597
humble-bee orchis1597
lady's slipper1597
sweet ballocks1597
two-blade1605
cullions1611
bee-flower1626
fly-flower1640
man orchis1670
musk orchis1670
moccasin flower1680
gnat-flower1688
faham tea1728
Ophrys1754
green man orchis1762
Arethusa1764
honey flower1771
cypripedium1775
rattlesnake plantain1778
Venus's slipper1785
Adam and Eve1789
lizard orchis179.
epidendrum1791
Pogonia?1801
Vanda1801
cymbidium1815
Oncidium1822
putty-root1822
Noah's Ark1826
yellow moccasin1826
gongora1827
cattleya1828
green man1828
nervine1828
stanhopea1829
dove-flower1831
catasetum1836
Odontoglossum1836
Miltonia1837
letter plant1838
spread eagle1838
letter-leaf1839
swan-plant1841
orchid1843
disa1844
masdevallia1845
Phalaenopsis1846
faham1850
Indian crocus1850
moccasin plant1850
pleione1851
dove orchis1852
nerve root1854
Holy Ghost flower1862
basket-plant1865
lizard's tongue1866
mousetail1866
Sobralia1866
swan-neck1866
swanwort1866
Indian shoe1876
odontoglot1879
wreathewort1879
moth orchid1880
rattlesnake orchid1881
dendrobe1882
dove-plant1882
Madeira orchis1882
man orchis1882
swan-flower1884
slipper-orchid1885
slipper orchis1889
mayflower1894
scorpion orchid1897
moederkappie1910
dove orchid1918
monkey orchid1925
man orchid1927
1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 164 Birdes Orchis... The flowers..like in shape vnto little birds, with their wings spred abroad readie to flie.
† bird's pease n. Obsolete a kind of vetch, (perhaps) Cyprus vetch, Lathyrus ochrus, a climbing vine which is native to the Mediterranean and has pale yellow flowers, leaves ending in tendrils, and edible seeds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > leguminous plants > [noun] > vetchling
vetchling1578
bird's pease1633
sea-pea1633
vetch1671
lathyrus1736
Tangier pea1736
vetch grass1753
meadow vetchling1796
1633 T. Johnson Gerard's Herball (new ed.) ii. dxxvii. 1249 (caption) Birds Pease.
1714 J. Petiver in Philos. Trans. 1713 (Royal Soc.) 28 211 Winged Birds Pease or Ochre.
bird's tare n. (also birds' tare) a kind of vetch; spec. tufted vetch, Vicia cracca.
ΚΠ
1650 W. How Phytologia Britannica 10 Aracus... Birdes Tares.
1915 W. Frear Sour Soils & Liming v. 99 Lime is certainly not lacking when the hedge vetch, birds'-tare, chick-weed, vetch and red and other clovers form the natural vegetation.
2007 Jrnl. Parasitol. 93 531/2 Bird's tare, Vicia cracca.
bird's-tongue n. now rare any of various herbaceous plants, typically having long narrow leaves likened to a bird's tongue.Chiefly in lists of alternative names for these plants.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > names applied to various plants > [noun]
heatha700
beeworteOE
leversc725
springworteOE
clotec1000
halswortc1000
sengreenc1000
bottle?a1200
bird's-tonguea1300
bloodworta1300
faverolea1300
vetchc1300
pimpernel1378
oniona1398
bird's nest?a1425
adder's grassc1450
cockheada1500
ambrosia1525
fleawort1548
son before the father1552
crow-toe1562
basil1578
bird's-foot1578
bloodroot1578
throatwort1578
phalangium1608
yew1653
chalcedon1664
dittany1676
bleeding heart1691
felon-wort1706
hedgehog1712
land caltrops1727
old man's beard1731
loosestrife1760
Solomon's seal1760
fireweed1764
desert rose1792
star of Bethlehem1793
hen and chickens1794
Aaron's beard1820
felon-grass1824
arrowroot1835
snake-root1856
firebush1858
tick-seed1860
bird's eye1863
burning bush1866
rat-tail1871
lamb's earsa1876
lamb's tongue plant1882
tar-weed1884
Tom Thumb1886
parrotbeak1890
stinkweed1932
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > [noun] > knot-grass
swine's grasslOE
bird's-tonguea1300
sparrow's-tonguea1400
corrigiolec1400
swinecress?a1425
knot-grass1538
way-grass1565
centinode1611
pinkweed1657
breadwort1736
stone-weed1847
allseed1855
knotwort1864
wire-weed1864
willow weed1866
knotweed1884
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Caryophyllaceae (chickweeds and allies) > [noun] > chickweeds and stitchworts
chicken meateOE
bird's-tonguea1300
stitchworta1300
chickenweedc1300
piglea1400
chickweed?a1425
craches1530
mouse-ear1578
all-bony1597
chickenwort1762
Stellaria1785
all bones1787
mouse-eared chickweed1789
cerastium1799
starwort1809
satin flower1836
adder's meat1853
thunder-flower1853
snap-jack1867
shirt button1880
a1300 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 557/35 Pinpernele, i. pinpre, i. briddestunge.
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest ii. f. 34 Birdes tongue, is an Herbe whose chiefest working is to prouoke Uenerie, and causeth most ranck seede. It figureth the tongue of a Birde, whereof it hath his name.
1789 W. Aiton Hortus Kewensis III. 194 Senecio paludosus... Marsh Groundsel, or Bird's-tongue.
1940 E. R. Spencer Just Weeds 86 Knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare L.)... Like most of the weeds that came from the Old World this one has many English names: Ninety-knot,..Allseed, Bird's-tongue,..Hog-weed, and Pig rush.

Derivatives

birdlike adj. resembling a bird in appearance or behaviour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > [adjective] > resembling
birdlike1587
birdy1835
ornithoid1847
ornithomorphic1887
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xvii. 310 Reteyning nothing..of her birdlike nature.
1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda IV. viii. lxi. 215 His bird-like hope, constructed on the lightest principles, soared again.
2009 J. A. Coyne Why Evol. is True ii. 43 Archaeopteryx has a few bits that are very bird-like, while most bits are very reptilian.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

birdv.

Brit. /bəːd/, U.S. /bərd/, Australian English /bɜːd/, New Zealand English /bɜːd/
Forms: see bird n.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: bird n.
Etymology: < bird n.With sense 1a compare earlier birder n. 1a and slightly earlier birding n. 1a, and also earlier fowl v. In sense 1b probably short for mutton-bird v.; compare slightly earlier birding n. 1c. With sense 2b compare earlier birder n. 4 and birding n. 3. In sense 3 after bird n. 16a. In sense 4 after bird n. 18; compare earlier birdie v.
1.
†a. intransitive. To engage in the action or sport of catching wild birds. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fowling > hunt birds [verb (intransitive)]
fowlc1000
bird1574
1574 J. Baret Aluearie B 645 To birde, foule, or hauke.
1576 G. Gascoigne Steele Glas Epil. Till they have caught the birds for whom they bryded.
1674 Defensio Legis xv. 184 Turn'd abroad with Powder and Shot, to bird for a living.
b. intransitive. Australian and New Zealand. To catch or prepare mutton-birds for eating; = mutton-bird v.
ΚΠ
1878 E. R. Chudleigh Diary 25 Sept. (1950) 272 Got letters from the Chathams... Hood has been delayed birding with the natives.
1965 M. E. Gillham Naturalist in N.Z. 29 Even among the Maoris only those whose ancestors have birded from times long past are allowed ashore on the bird islands in the harvest season.
2019 Austral. Mag. (Nexis) 17 Aug. 20 Those who harvest on Big Dog Island are mainly indigenous, and subject to quotas and animal welfare guidelines. It's a way of life for Tim Maynard, who has been birding for 30 years.
2.
a. transitive. To observe the birds of (a place) as part of a birdwatching excursion.
ΚΠ
1917 Oölogist 15 Apr. 67/2 I am situated in one of the largest expanses in the southern United States, that has not, as yet, been ‘Birded’.
1980 J. J. Harding & J. J. Harding Birding Delaware Valley Region 30 A gravel dike that separates the marsh from Darby Creek serves as the main vantage point for birding the refuge.
2010 Hoosier Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 17 Jan. (Herald-Times ed.) f3/3 Ross..and I spent from 4:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. looking for as many species of birds as we could find..in the vicinity of Gosport. I've birded this area many times before, but not recently.
b. intransitive. To engage in birdwatching; = birdwatch v.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > hobby > spotting trains, watching birds, etc. > train-spot, bird-watch [verb (intransitive)]
birdwatch1938
bird1952
loco-spot1961
trainspot1968
twitch1977
1952 Washington Post 11 May 6 l/7 By the time you read this the time is far advanced for a birder. The Audubon Society has been birding at Mount Vernon since 6:30.
1999 Discover Mar. 99/2 For the next month I birded every day along that wonderful narrow line through the rain forest that led all the way down to the sea.
2012 Wall St. Jrnl. 26 May c6/4 Anyone who has birded regularly in Cape May, N.J., has seen Richard Crossley and his giant zoom lens stalking at dawn, dusk, and in between.
3. transitive. slang (chiefly British). Of audience members: to hiss at (a performer) to express disdain or dissatisfaction. Cf. bird n. 16a. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > perform [verb (transitive)] > audience reaction
explose?c1550
explode1563
exsibilate1601
be-Roscius1774
to get the (big) bird1825
goose1838
sibilate1864
bird1927
the mind > attention and judgement > contempt > disapproval > disapprove of [verb (transitive)] > express disapproval of > by sound or exclamation
hootc1175
to clap out1550
explose?c1550
explode1563
hiss1598
exsibilate1601
to hum up, down1642
out-hiss1647
chuckle1681
catcall1700
scrape1773
groan1799
to get the (big) bird1825
boo1833
fie-fie1836
goose1838
sibilate1864
cluck1916
bird1927
slow handclap1949
tsk-tsk1966
tut1972
1927 Montrose Rev. 14 Jan. 7/3 Another [scene] shows a rudely constructed low-class hall, with its rough-and-ready audience ‘birding’ a couple of dancers.
1936 N. Coward Red Peppers in To-night at 8.30 I. 93 Lot of hooligans birding the poor old man.
4. transitive. Golf. To complete (a hole) in one stroke under par. Sometimes also intransitive. Cf. birdie v.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > play golf [verb (transitive)] > type of play or stroke
drive1743
draw1842
heel1857
hook1857
loft1857
founder1878
to top a ball1881
chip1889
duff1890
pull1890
slice1890
undercut1891
hack1893
toe1893
spoon1896
borrow1897
overdrive1900
trickle1902
bolt1909
niblick1909
socket1911
birdie1921
eagle1921
shank1925
explode1926
bird1930
three-putt1946
bogey1948
double-bogey1952
fade1953
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > golf > play golf [verb (intransitive)] > type of play
return1874
three-putt1946
bird1984
1930 Washington Post 27 Oct. 17/8 Dutra..was five under par through the thirteenth, birding the tenth, eleventh and twelfth holes in a row.
1984 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 27 Aug. c4/2 Lietzke birded with a 4-iron to six feet.
2010 Hutchinson (Kansas) News 25 May (Sports section) b4/3 His chances at birding holes No. 12, 13 and 17 came up empty after short putts didn't fall.

Phrasal verbs

† transitive. to bird off: to shoot (people) one by one from a distance in the manner of a hunter shooting birds. In passive in quots. Cf. to pick off 2 at pick v.1 Phrasal verbs 1. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > fire (a gun) [verb (transitive)] > shoot (a person or thing)
shoot1617
to bird off1688
to knock downa1744
to pick off1745
pop1762
drill1808
plug1833
perforate1838
slap1842
stop1845
pot1860
spot1882
plunk1888
pip1900
souvenir1915
poop1917
spray1922
smoke1926
zap1942
crack1943
pot-shoot1969
1688 P. Rycaut tr. G. de la Vega Royal Comm. Peru vii. xvii. 946 Sixty common Souldiers of good esteem were killed likewise, who never came to dint of Sword, or push of Pike, but were shot and birded off at a distance.
1700 P. Rycaut Hist. Turks 151/2 Their Men wading over a marshy Ground..sticking in the Mire, were birded off and killed with Musquet-shot.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
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