A peacock is a large bird. The male has a very large tail covered with blue and green spots, which it can spread out like a fan.
...peacocks strutting slowly across the garden.
...peacock feathers.
2. countable noun
If you describe someone, especially a man, as a peacock, you mean that they are arrogant or like dressing or behaving in a way that draws attention to themselves.
[disapproval]
He was a born peacock.
He introduced himself as 'the leader' and strutted up and down like a peacock.
peacock in British English
(ˈpiːˌkɒk)
nounWord forms: plural-cocks or -cock
1.
a male peafowl, having a crested head and a very large fanlike tail marked with blue and green eyelike spots
▶ Related adjective: pavonine
2. another name for peafowl
3.
a vain strutting person
verb
4.
to display (oneself) proudly
5. obsolete, slang, Australian
to acquire (the best pieces of land) in such a way that the surrounding land is useless to others
Derived forms
peacockish (ˈpeaˌcockish)
adjective
peahen (ˈpeaˌhen)
feminine noun
Word origin
C14 pecok, pe- from Old English pāwa (from Latin pāvō peacock) + cock1
Peacock in British English
(ˈpiːˌkɒk)
noun
Thomas Love. 1785–1866, English novelist and poet, noted for his satirical romances, including Headlong Hall (1816) and Nightmare Abbey (1818)
Peacock in American English
(ˈpiˌkɑk)
Thomas Love1785-1866; Eng. novelist & poet
peacock in American English
(ˈpiˌkɑk)
nounWord forms: pluralˈpeaˌcocks or ˈpeaˌcock
1.
a.
any male peafowl, esp., one of a species (Pavo cristatus) with a crest of plumules and long, brightly colored upper tail coverts that can be spread like a fan and have rainbow-colored, eyelike spots
b. Loosely
any peafowl
2.
a vain, strutting person
verb intransitive
3.
to display vanity in behavior, dress, etc.; strut
Derived forms
peacockish (ˈpeaˌcockish)
adjective or ˈpeaˌcocky
Word origin
ME pacok < pa, peacock (< OE pea < early WGmc borrowing < L pavo, peacock, ? akin to Gr taōs, ? of Asian orig.) + cok, cock1
A peacock is a large bird. The male has a very large tail covered with blue and green spots, which it can spread out like a fan.
...peacocks strutting slowly across the garden.
American English: peacock
Arabic: طَاوُوسٌ
Brazilian Portuguese: pavão
Chinese: 孔雀
Croatian: paun
Czech: páv
Danish: påfugl
Dutch: pauw
European Spanish: pavo real
Finnish: riikinkukko
French: paon
German: Pfau
Greek: παγώνι
Italian: pavone
Japanese: クジャク
Korean: 공작새
Norwegian: påfugl
Polish: paw
European Portuguese: pavão
Romanian: păun
Russian: павлин
Latin American Spanish: pavo real
Swedish: påfågel
Thai: นกยูง
Turkish: tavus kuşu
Ukrainian: павич
Vietnamese: con công
All related terms of 'peacock'
peacock ore
→ bornite
peacock blue
Something that is peacock blue is a deep , bright , greeny-blue in colour.
peacock chair
an armchair , usually of rattan or wicker , with a very high, rounded back
peacock feather
a ( distinctive and brightly coloured) feather from the peacock
peacock butterfly
a European nymphalid butterfly , Inachis io , having reddish-brown wings each marked with a purple eyespot
peacock's tail
a handsome brown seaweed , Padina pavonia (though coloured yellow-olive, red, and green) whose fan-shaped fronds have concentric bands of iridescent hairs
giant peacock moth
the largest European moth , an emperor, Saturnia pyri, reaching 15 cm (6 in.) in wingspan . It is mottled brown with a prominent ocellus on each wing and being night-flying can be mistaken for a bat
bornite
a mineral consisting of a sulphide of copper and iron that tarnishes to purple or dark red. It occurs in copper deposits . Formula: Cu 5 FeS 4