Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Bird?

\Bird\ (b[~e]rd), n. [OE. brid, bred, bird, young bird, bird, AS. bridd young bird. [root]92.] 1. Orig., a chicken; the young of a fowl; a young eaglet; a nestling; and hence, a feathered flying animal (see 2). That ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird. --Shak. The brydds [birds] of the aier have nestes. --Tyndale (Matt. viii. 20). 2. (Zo["o]l.) A warm-blooded, feathered vertebrate provided with wings. See {Aves}. 3. Specifically, among sportsmen, a game bird. 4. Fig.: A girl; a maiden. And by my word! the bonny bird In danger shall not tarry. --Campbell. {Arabian bird}, the phenix. {Bird of Jove}, the eagle. {Bird of Juno}, the peacock. {Bird louse} (Zo["o]l.), a wingless insect of the group Mallophaga, of which the genera and species are very numerous and mostly parasitic upon birds. -- Bird mite (Zo["o]l.), a small mite (genera {Dermanyssus}, {Dermaleichus} and allies) parasitic upon birds. The species are numerous. {Bird of passage}, a migratory bird. {Bird spider} (Zo["o]l.), a very large South American spider ({Mygale avicularia}). It is said sometimes to capture and kill small birds. {Bird tick} (Zo["o]l.), a dipterous insect parasitic upon birds (genus {Ornithomyia}, and allies), usually winged.
\Bird\, v. i. 1. To catch or shoot birds. 2. Hence: To seek for game or plunder; to thieve. [R.] --B. Jonson.