eagle
/ˈiːɡ(ə)l
/noun
1A large bird of prey with a massive hooked bill and long broad wings, known for its keen sight and powerful soaring flight.
- Family Accipitridae: several genera, in particular Aquila.
- It features free-flying displays and an opportunity for people to see at close hand some 30 different birds of prey, including eagles, buzzards and falcons.
- The Ende's consider the birds - eagles, falcons, hawks, owls and kestrels - as part of their family.
1.1A figure of an eagle, especially as a symbol of the US.Germany's national symbol has been the eagle since Charlemagne was emperor from 800 to 814....
- In addition to the United States, numerous other nations through the ages have adopted the eagle as their symbol.
- Five hundred feet high, it was completed by a tall tower, crowned with the symbol of the State - an eagle and a swastika.
2 Golf A score of two strokes under par at a hole: [as modifier]: he also had an eagle three at the ninth...
- The first year, I was standing at the 18th green and had just finished playing when Lew Worsham scored an eagle 2 on the last hole.
- The ball pitched a few yards past the flag and, courtesy of a powerful amount of backspin, zipped back into the hole for an eagle two.
- Levet was first to play and there was delight when his little chip and run trickled into the hole for an eagle three.
Suggested by birdie
3US A former gold coin worth ten dollars.For instance, if the banks issued dollar notes, silver dollars ceased to circulate, and no one paid with a gold eagle if a ten dollar note was at hand....
- He clanged a fist of twenty-dollar gold eagles on the counter.
verb [with object] Golf
Play (a hole) in two strokes under par: he eagled the last to share fourth place...
- Jerry Barber, all of 40 years ago, is the only other player in Masters history to have eagled the hole they call White Dogwood.
- The world number two made swift amends in his second round, eagling his second hole - the 11th - and going on to reach the turn in 32.
- He won the Crosby Plate at West Lancs in sensational style when he eagled the penultimate hole.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French aigle, from Latin aquila.
Eagle comes from Old French aigle which came in turn from Latin aquila ‘eagle’ also the source of aquiline (mid 17th century)—an aquiline nose is hooked like an eagle's beak. Renowned for its keen sight and soaring flight, the eagle is considered the king of birds. The bald eagle is the emblem of the USA, and Eagle was the name of the lunar module during the first moon landing, on 20 July 1969. The phrase the eagle has landed was said by astronaut Neil Armstrong on that day: ‘Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.’ It was later used by Jack Higgins as the title of his 1975 thriller about an attempt to assassinate Winston Churchill. See also bird