vulture

[ vuhl-cher ]

noun

1. any of several large, primarily carrion-eating Old World birds of prey of the family Accipitridae, often having a naked head and less powerful feet than those of the related hawks and eagles.
2. any of several superficially similar New World birds of the family Cathartidae, as the turkey vulture.
3. a person or thing that preys, especially greedily or unscrupulously:

   That vulture would sell out his best friend.

vulture

/ ˈvʌltʃə /

noun

1. any of various very large diurnal birds of prey of the genera Neophron, Gyps, Gypaetus, etc, of Africa, Asia, and warm parts of Europe, typically having broad wings and soaring flight and feeding on carrion: family Accipitridae (hawks) See also griffon 1 lammergeier
2. any similar bird of the family Cathartidae of North, Central, and South America See also condor turkey buzzard
3. a person or thing that preys greedily and ruthlessly on others, esp the helpless

Derived Forms

• ˈvulture-ˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• vulture·like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of vulture¹

1325–75; Middle English < Latin vultur

Word History and Origins

Origin of vulture¹

C14: from Old French voltour, from Latin vultur; perhaps related to Latin vellere to pluck, tear

Example Sentences

The current form of winner-take-all late-stage vulture capitalism has led to unprecedented wealth concentration and income disparity.

From Salon

From the jump, Rogen remained somewhat neutral when it came to his comments on the allegations against his friend, saying in an interview with Vulture in 2018, "The truth is that my perspective on this is the least relevant perspective. I’m friends with these people and I’m a dude. All that combined makes me the last person who should be talking about this."

From Salon

Dead animals littered the side of the road; deer, raccoons, something that looked like a purple jackal, a Chupacabra or two, what looked like a werewolf, and at least one low-flying turkey vulture.

From Salon

"Nickel Boys is a cinematic experience unlike any other," said Vulture's Bilge Ebiri.

From BBC

"Berger’s film is adapted, quite faithfully, from Robert Harris’s 2016 novel," noted Vulture's Bilge Ebiri, "and it combines the pulp velocity of a great airport read with the gravitas of high drama."

From BBC