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• bird
  bird

  noun

  any warm-blooded vertebrate of the class Aves, having a body covered with feathers, forelimbs modified into wings, scaly legs, a beak, and no teeth, and bearing young in a hard-shelled egg.
• Bird
  Bird

  noun

  Larry, born 1956, U.S. basketball player.

bird

¹ American  

[burd] / bɜrd /

noun

• birds
  plural

1. any warm-blooded vertebrate of the class Aves, having a body covered with feathers, forelimbs modified into wings, scaly legs, a beak, and no teeth, and bearing young in a hard-shelled egg.

2. a fowl or game bird.

3. Sports.

   1. clay pigeon.

   2. a shuttlecock.

4. Slang. a person, especially one having some peculiarity.

   He's a queer bird.

5. Informal. an aircraft, spacecraft, or guided missile.

6. Cooking. a thin piece of meat, poultry, or fish rolled around a stuffing and braised.

   veal birds.

7. Southern U.S. (in hunting) a bobwhite.

8. Chiefly British Slang. a girl or young woman.

9. Archaic. the young of any fowl.

10. Slang. the bird,

    1. disapproval, as of a performance, by hissing, booing, etc..

       He got the bird when he came out on stage.

    2. scoffing or ridicule.

       He was trying to be serious, but we all gave him the bird.

    3. an obscene gesture of contempt made by raising the middle finger.

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verb (used without object)

1. to catch or shoot birds.

2. to bird-watch.

idioms

1. bird in the hand, a thing possessed in fact as opposed to a thing about which one speculates: Also bird in hand.

   A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

2. birds of a feather, people with interests, opinions, or backgrounds in common.

   Birds of a feather flock together.

3. for the birds, useless or worthless; not to be taken seriously.

   Their opinions on art are for the birds. That pep rally is for the birds.

4. the birds and the bees, basic information about sex and reproduction.

   It was time to talk to the boy about the birds and the bees.

5. a little bird, a secret source of information.

   A little bird told me that today is your birthday.

6. kill two birds with one stone, to achieve two aims with a single effort.

   She killed two birds with one stone by shopping and visiting the museum on the same trip.

7. eat like a bird, to eat sparingly.

   She couldn't understand why she failed to lose weight when she was, as she said, eating like a bird.

Bird ² American  

[burd] / bɜrd /

noun

1. Larry, born 1956, U.S. basketball player.

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bird ¹ British  

/ bɜːd /

noun

1. any warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrate of the class Aves , characterized by a body covering of feathers and forelimbs modified as wings. Birds vary in size between the ostrich and the humming bird

2. informal a person (usually preceded by a qualifying adjective, as in the phrases rare bird, odd bird, clever bird )

3. slang a girl or young woman, esp one's girlfriend

4. slang prison or a term in prison (esp in the phrase do bird ; shortened from birdlime , rhyming slang for time )

5. something definite or certain

6. informal the person in question has fled or escaped

7. euphemistic sex and sexual reproduction

8. people with the same characteristics, ideas, interests, etc

9. informal

   1. to be fired or dismissed

   2. (esp of a public performer) to be hissed at, booed, or derided

10. informal to tell someone rudely to depart; scoff at; hiss

11. to accomplish two things with one action

12. without resistance or difficulty

13. a (supposedly) unknown informant

    a little bird told me it was your birthday

14. informal deserving of disdain or contempt; not important

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Bird ² British  

/ bɜːd /

noun

1. nickname of (Charlie) Parker

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bird Scientific  

/ bûrd /

1. Any of numerous warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate animals of the class Aves. Birds have wings for forelimbs, a body covered with feathers, a hard bill covering the jaw, and a four-chambered heart.

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bird More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing bird

• catbird seat
• early bird catches the worm
• eat like a bird
• for the birds
• free as a bird
• kill two birds with one stone
• little bird told me
• naked as a jaybird
• rare bird

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Closer Look

It is generally believed that birds are descended from dinosaurs and probably evolved from them during the Jurassic Period. While most paleontologists believe that birds evolved from a small dinosaur called the theropod, which in turn evolved from the thecodont, a reptile from the Triassic Period, other paleontologists believe that birds and dinosaurs both evolved from the thecodont. There are some who even consider the bird to be an actual dinosaur. According to this view, the bird is an avian dinosaur, and the older dinosaur a nonavian dinosaur. Although there are variations of thought on the exact evolution of birds, the similarities between birds and dinosaurs are striking and undeniable. Small meat-eating dinosaurs and primitive birds share about twenty characteristics that neither group shares with any other kind of animal; these include tubular bones, the position of the pelvis, the shape of the shoulder blades, a wishbone-shaped collarbone, and the structure of the eggs. Dinosaurs had scales, and birds have modified scales—their feathers—and scaly feet. Some dinosaurs also may have had feathers; a recently discovered fossil of a small dinosaur indicates that it had a featherlike covering. In fact, some primitive fossil birds and small meat-eating dinosaurs are so similar that it is difficult to tell them apart based on their skeletons alone.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• birdless
  adjective
• birdlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• birds
  plural

Etymology

Origin of bird

First recorded before 900; Middle English byrd, bryd, Old English brid(d) (Northumbrian dialect bird ) “young bird, chick”

Explanation

A bird is an animal with wings, feathers, and two legs. Birds, from chickens to crows, are also warm-blooded and lay eggs. Most birds can fly using their wings, and when you visit the coast you'll see various sea birds like gulls, terns, and cormorants. You can use the word bird as a verb meaning "to observe birds as a hobby," and in some places, particularly Britain, it's also a noun meaning "young woman." Bird is an Old English word, an unusual form of bridd, "young bird or fledgling," from an unknown origin.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bird Bird birds

She added that the scheme only removes one chick at a time from nests, and the birds are checked for bird flu before they are released.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Take bird feeders down at dusk; don’t leave them out overnight; the bear will remember where they were.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Pellet guns are shotguns designed for bird hunting.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

University of Michigan scientists have used artificial intelligence to uncover a striking pattern in the evolution of Passeriformes, the vast bird group that includes most songbirds.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026

The only sounds that came out of me were little peeps, like a baby bird chirping “Alexandra Potemkin and the Space Shuttle to Planet Z.”

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

Even after stints on the East Coast for art school and in San Francisco for a restaurant gig at Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions, she felt the pull to return to Chinatown.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Bird communities at more extreme latitudes, where seasonal temperatures vary more sharply, tend to include species that evolve faster than those living closer to the equator.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026

Crews also built a pedestrian plaza with lunch tables and a mile of new trails that provide access to the popular Lady Bird Johnson Grove inside Redwood National and State Parks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

And the humorous style of his Little Black Bird Book, published in 1980, made it a bestseller.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

“Feed the Birds, Tuppence a Bag!” said the Bird Woman, and Michael knew it was no good asking her any more questions.

From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers

Paul Davies, the island's National Trust countryside manager, said a large number of nesting birds will have died as well as reptiles, small mammals and amphibians.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

Work will begin in the autumn to create new wetland areas that will support bats, newts, kingfishers and internationally important populations of wading birds and waterfowl.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

The species at one time bred along the Exmoor coastline, which continues to provide ideal foraging, including an abundance of fish, and breeding habitat for the birds.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

That leaves fewer shaded, humid spaces for water to pool and mosquitoes to hide, as well as more access for mosquito predators such as birds and larger insects.

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026

“I am strong, Anna. I will bring down the eggs as long as they’re there, and the birds when I can. If I have to, I’ll work on the roads.”

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

Related Words

• fowl