Definition of bird in English:

bird

noun bəːdbərd

1A warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrate animal distinguished by the possession of feathers, wings, a beak, and typically by being able to fly.
Class Aves; birds probably evolved in the Jurassic period from small dinosaurs that may already have been warm-blooded
Example sentencesExamples
- Marine mammals and large flying birds are the animals most likely to be able to benefit from foraging over very large distances.
- A bird needs wings for lift, tail feathers for control and lightweight bones.
- Occasionally, a bird fluffs feathers and wings in a short flight, before returning to the field of perpetual avian motion.
- The black back of the bird separated the two wings from each other.
- When on the water, a sleeping bird will tuck its bill under its wing; on land birds may stand on one leg.
- It requires no special morphological adaptations, although it is most effective in birds with low wing loading.
- They were not the feathered wings of a bird or the leathery ones of a bat, but something in-between, sharing the features of both.
- Instead, the birds strike with their beaks and hook their fresh meat on thorns or barbed wire.
- Hence, the possession of feathers is unique to birds and defines all members of the class Aves.
- I am currently using turkey feathers to fletch with, after spending half a day on a commercial turkey farm plucking wing feathers as the birds went into the slaughter house.
- Bounding and undulating flight are distinguished by the way the bird uses its wings during the resting phase.
- They measure the bills and the wings, take the birds ' weights and label a leg of each with a colored marker.
- Note the curled feathers on the wings, which become more prominent when the bird raises its wings during threat display
- Such cases of female competition and aggression have been noted in many birds and other vertebrates.
- After you have clipped his wing, your bird will still be able to fly, but not for any distance.
- With a three-foot wingspan and two long, streaming tail feathers, these birds are easy to recognize.
- Whether the flightless birds used their beaks to impale or bludgeon their prey is unknown, Chiappe says.
- On the fringes of the bay, fragile marshes and winding waterways are teeming with birds and wildlife.
- Youngsters were able to stroke the birds ' feathers.
- To this purpose the bird will hold its wings out from its body until dry enough for flight.
Synonyms
fowl
songbird, warbler, passerine
bird of prey, raptor
chick, fledgling, nestling
(birds), avifauna
informal feathered friend, birdie
1. 1.1 A bird that is hunted for sport or used for food.
  carve the bird and arrange on a warmed serving plate
  Example sentencesExamples
  The fact that the villages needed to trap birds probably meant that food was in short supply.
  The upland stamp would be required of those hunting doves, quail, pheasants and other upland birds.
  The European Commission yesterday ordered a ban on all imports of birds and feathers from Turkey amid new fears over avian influenza.
  When it comes time to carve the bird, you'll find that although it has already given its life, the duck doesn't easily give in to the cook.
  I roast my grouse for a short time at a high temperature - as long as they are young birds - and rest them for as long as possible to relax the meat and give it a uniform rosiness.
  Moisten the top of the bird with olive oil and then season with thyme, rosemary, oregano, salt, pepper and a few pinches of cayenne.
  The farmer, seeing the birds he raised for food being killed, tried to persuade the hunter to stop.
  At the same time it brought the birds closer to sport hunters living in southern California cities.
  Then they collected the eggs they didn't eat and stored them in casks, and they killed birds for both food and sport.
  Shooting the birds was marginally better sport than bagging dodos and to win a rosette in pigeon-shooting you had to kill in excess of 30,000 passengers in a session.
  The second panel describes how coastal tribes came on seasonal trips for food, trapping birds and catching eels.
  Remove the birds and carve down one side of the breast bone, snipping the bird in half.
  There were also clan-specific food taboos on particular birds and wild animals.
  In medieval Europe, scribes used trimmed feathers from the wings of large birds and various inks to mark a set of alphabetic letters on parchment skins.
  Although we didn't detect any ginger in our ginger chicken fillet, the meat wasn't the tough old bird we often get off Bulgaria's grills.
  When skeet shooting or bird hunting, those that ride high on the nose are preferred since you are shooting at objects moving upwards.
  Some people living near the husbandry have ignored warnings from the local administration and have stolen birds for food.
2. 1.2North American informal An aircraft, spacecraft, or satellite.
  Example sentencesExamples
  The novel solution was to get the Navy to take over the birds, assign them Bureau Numbers to camouflage and confuse the rest of us.
  Now he's the dedicated crew chief for the 23rd Bomb Squadron commander's bird, the Bomber Baron.
  After testing in 2004, the Air Force would like to buy six more ABLs and modify the test bird into an operational aircraft.
  The plane is a C130 Gunship, a classic old bird modified for special ops.
  We need better human intelligence and not just to rely on satellites and birds in the sky.
  I didn't do a full restoration but had the bird cleaned up and detailed out.
  While there's a finite number of under- $60,000 airplanes, among them are some great budget birds.
  I always like to relive those days spent flying the MATS version of it all over the world - a great bird.
  The only one currently in operation is NASA's Space Shuttle, an expensive old bird, and set for the scrap heap in just six years.
  Many of these birds are lovingly restored, bespeaking the inordinate affections heaped upon them by proud owners.
  As the end of the runway loomed in front of him, he pulled back on the control wheel and forced his bird from its perch.
  The insurance on the plane was almost prohibitive and finding an airport and hangar for the bird was even more so.
  Within 90 minutes, he had the bird repaired and continued his trip south.
  Curtain, was an excellent artist so the honor was bestowed upon him to paint the war face on our bird as we prepared to go into battle.
  Now almost all the new birds entering the fleet have some form of pilot and passenger entertainment system.
  When the Viper loses its engine, the whole bird usually goes with it.
  Synonyms
  aircraft, craft, flying machine
2informal A person of a specified kind or character.
she's a sharp old bird
Example sentencesExamples
- He remained a tough old bird, long after he left the army.
- Maybe the old bird that called it in wasn't wearing her glasses.
- So I asked a wise old bird, ‘Sir, do you know any tricks to get this light to go out?’
- To quote the old bird herself, we are not amused.
- Why make a film about a posh old bird and an emporium of entertainment?
- Her great-grandmother died of an unknown disease, and my gran was given a stack of money for the old bird's body - medical research I guess.
- Whether you have found a cure for cancer or you're just a daft old bird who can't drive makes no difference, as long as people know your face.
- It seems there's still life left in the old bird after all.
- The champion is a wily old bird however and Arthur was unable to press home his advantage.
- We had done everything to breathe life into the old bird.
- Will that wily old bird be proved right in the next few months?
- The landlady Anika was a senile old bird and was always telling me off for not paying my bills when I'd just paid her the day before.
- But when in Rome London, might as well embrace the moment and see what the old bird has to offer.
- He's a tough old bird who has seen a lot of hard times.
- Every so often, in between weathercasts predicting temperatures in the 90s, they wheel out this wizened old bird.
- She's a strong old bird, but I don't think she'll recover from this one.
- But the worst was an old bird who shouted at me about the poll tax and blamed me for Black Wednesday.
- Yet England will remain unbroken, staunch old bird that she is, accustomed to the IRA and the blitz of the Second World War.
- I sound like a tough old bird - but I sweated blood over this gallery and yet I would never want to have had those years any easier.
- If you flipped through the channels fast enough, it looked like the old bird had finally made up with Diana.
3British informal A young woman or a girlfriend.
Example sentencesExamples
- The other point is that men want to feel that the women they go out with mirror them - and we all want to prove that we can pull a younger bird.
- A fit bird means a girl who is pretty good looking or tasty!
- I had a friend who worked abroad minus his wife and ran off with a younger bird.
Synonyms
lady, girl, member of the fair sex, member of the gentle sex, female
girlfriend, girl, sweetheart, partner, significant other, inamorata, fiancée

Phrases

the bird has flown

The person one is looking for has escaped or left.
Example sentencesExamples
- Once the bird has flown, it's too late to do anything about it.
- The translation, for the benefit of my learned friend Mr Brownlee, is: the bird has flown its nest and it is free to fly the skies of the world.
- But the Labour Party Government is not going to amend the law now; it will do so after the bird has flown.

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

proverb It's better to be content with what you have than to risk losing everything by seeking to get more.
Example sentencesExamples
- The old adage that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush reflects the prudent strategy to go for the sure thing
- Sometimes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush but occasionally, the bird in the hand is really only a reasonable facsimile of the other two.
- Tearing up the agreement may head off any potential lawsuits, but as far as TV coverage is concerned, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
- The KMT appears to have forgotten the old maximum that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush - and stands to become the biggest loser in the recall drive.
- In a possible offer situation for a troubled company, a bird in the hand is certainly worth more than two in the bush.

the birds and the bees

informal Basic facts about sex and reproduction, as told to a child.
Example sentencesExamples
- Oh well, I suppose I will have to have ‘that’ little chat with him before he goes to work - the birds and the bees probably won't cut it with him, any suggestions?
- He's far too busy sewing the sequins on the little one's concert outfit, helping Timmy with his algebra, and talking through the birds and the bees to a pre-pubescent Melanie.
- My parents still haven't told me about the birds and the bees!
- As an example, Ciya told me that when she told her son and daughter about the birds and the bees, she told them all about contraceptives, and she offered to buy condoms for both kids if they felt embarrassed to purchase them for themselves!
- Probably the best scene in the play is where a Yorkshireman much older than me tries to sit me down and explain the birds and the bees.
- When it comes to facts and values, we both agree that ‘moral facts are in as good a shape as facts about the birds and the bees ', whatever that shape may be.
- ‘My father never told me about the birds and the bees,’ it goes.
- There isn't a parent in the land who doesn't dread the day their child first asks about the birds and the bees.
Synonyms
the facts of life, sexual reproduction, reproduction

birds of a feather flock together

proverb People of the same sort or with the same tastes and interests will be found together.
these health professionals sure were birds of a feather
Example sentencesExamples
- It's more of a case of birds of a feather flock together - people tend to gravitate to other people who are like themselves.
- It seems to me - I do not know - that birds of a feather flock together.
- Do opposites attract or do birds of a feather flock together?
- Remember how your mother used to say that birds of a feather flock together, and you thought it was just a cheap attempt to insult your boyfriend?
- The bottom line is that birds of a feather flock together.

do (one's) bird

informal Serve a prison sentence.
Example sentencesExamples
- As a couple of the drunks walked past me I heard one say to the other ‘… I don't think that's a good idea to do that, you don't want to be doing bird again…"
- A warrant for his arrest has now been issued and he may end up doing bird rather than feeding them!
- Police surgeon Alec ‘the Knife’ Mitchell also did bird with current and former Essex High Sheriffs Mark ‘the Reaper’ Thomasin-Forster and Andrew ‘the Sabre’ Streeter.
- He was explaining in detail about some armed robbery he'd been involved in, how they'd shot through the kitchen window and how he was sure he was doing bird this time.
Synonyms
incarcerated, in prison, in jail, jailed, locked up, in custody, under lock and key, interned, confined, detained, held prisoner, captive, held captive, in chains, in irons, clapped in irons

flip someone the bird (or flip the bird)

informal Stick one's middle finger up at someone as a sign of contempt or anger.
Example sentencesExamples
- Without hesitation I started walking away, Billy started yelling for me, pleading for me to turn around, but I stuck my hand in the air and flipped him the bird.
- Alya was about to flip him the bird, but changed her mind and stuck out her tongue instead.
- She stuck her arm behind her back and flipped me the bird.
- Dustin tried to flick him a thumbs-up sign, however, out of nervousness he flipped him the bird instead, accidentally, of course.
- He sticks his hand out the window and flips me the bird.

(strictly) for the birds

informal Not worthy of consideration.
Example sentencesExamples
- When I was 10, I told my father that this annual migration to the south was strictly for the birds.
- I hadn't intended to run on at such length about the crow, which I was using simply as one example of a wider thesis: that nature remains strictly for the birds.
- Leaving the telly on is strictly for the birds…
- Purity is for the birds, as Rand would say, yet not adhere to.
- As for capital gains tax on main residences as well as second homes, that is strictly for the birds.

get the bird

informal Be booed or jeered at.
Example sentencesExamples
- He wanted to be Harry Kewell right up until the moment when Kewell misses a sitter and gets the bird.
- It didn't take me long to realise I was getting the bird in the gilded cage treatment.
- He was getting the bird every time he touched the ball, which admittedly wasn't often, and he roamed from wing to wing, either to seek the ball or a lower level of personal animus.
- Some repetition's necessary of course, but it is far more interesting and amusing to watch Tanya's teaching methods getting the bird from Lucky than hearing a song sung all the way through after hearing it previously in sections.

give someone the bird

1informal Boo or jeer at someone.
Example sentencesExamples
- A guy misses a match - for his own reasons no doubt, that is not a justification to give him the bird.
- I have an aversion to sites which literally give you the bird on the front page, so I didn't linger.
- And while mobile phone tunes may already give you the bird, it could be worse, South suggests.
2informal Stick one's middle finger up at someone as a sign of contempt or anger.
he gave his bench the bird, saluted and left the game
Example sentencesExamples
- I smiled to myself as I watched her start spluttering and yelling after the car and giving him the bird.
- Ever since I graduated, in 1977, people have never tired of giving me the bird.
- Maybe when Ron Sims gets on a bus to promote yet another tax increase for transportation the driver can give him the bird in the spirit of political free speech.
- It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as giving the bird.
- Residents and shoppers in Rayleigh have been given the bird after council plans to try and deter pigeons from the town centre were abandoned.

have a bird

informal Be very shocked or agitated.
I would have a bird if my kids did this
Example sentencesExamples
- The public seemed to like it, but the critic from the Vancouver Province came with his wife, and he had a bird: ‘How could I invite him to see this movie?’
- But the critic from The Province came with his wife and had a bird.
- "Hi Mutt, hey I've got a great joke to play on Alice. Lets fill out the card and then you leave and come back about two minutes after the game starts. She will have a bird."

a little bird told me

humorous Used to indicate that the speaker knows something but chooses to keep the identity of their informant secret.
a little bird told me it was your birthday
Example sentencesExamples
- Well - a little bird told me that you might have an interest in ships nowadays.
- ‘No, a little bird told me,’ Janelle said, anger and sarcasm dripping from her words.
- I was about to convince myself that people were finally losing interest in the story, when a little bird told me to keep going.
- Hmmm… a little bird told me this morning that Ms. Hayward has a brand new boyfriend.
- He smiled, shrugging casually, ‘Oh… a little bird told me…‘

Origin

Old English brid 'chick, fledgling', of unknown origin.

The origin of bird is unknown, and there are no parallel forms in any of the languages related to English. Old English brid (with the r before the i) meant only a chick or a nestling: an adult bird was a fowl. The form brid existed alongside bird in the literary language into the 15th century, but after that it survived only in dialect. Meanwhile fowl stopped being a general term, and it now refers only to specialized groups such as wildfowl and waterfowl. The first record of the proverb a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush comes in the mid 15th century. In birds of a feather flock together, first recorded a century later, the word ‘a’ means ‘one’ or ‘the same’.
The British slang use of bird to mean a young woman is associated with the 1960s and 1970s, but goes back as far as the Middle Ages. In those days there was another word bird, also spelled burd, that meant a young woman, which people confused with the familiar bird. The Virgin Mary could be described in those days as ‘that blissful bird of grace’. The modern use, recorded from the beginning of the 20th century, appears to be something of a revival.
The earliest version of the expression give someone the bird, meaning to boo or jeer at them, is the big bird, which was used by people working in the theatre in the early 19th century. The big bird referred to was a goose, a bird well known for its aggressive hissing when threatened or annoyed. The booing and hissing of the audience at an actor's poor performance might well have suggested a flock of angry geese.
Bird meaning ‘a prison sentence’ is a shortening of birdlime (see also viscous) used in rhyming slang to mean ‘time’. So if you were ‘doing bird’ or ‘doing birdlime’, you were ‘doing time’, a sense known from the mid 19th century.
In golf a birdie is a score of one stroke under par (see pair) at a hole. Two under par is an eagle, three under par is an albatross or double eagle, and one over par is a bogey (see bogus). This scoring terminology is said to have originated at the end of the 19th century when an American golfer hit a bird with his drive yet still managed to score one under par at the hole—this bird suggested birdie, and the other bird names were added to continue the theme.

Rhymes

absurd, Byrd, curd, engird, gird, Heard, herd, Kurd, misheard, nerd, overheard, reheard, third, undergird, undeterred, unheard, unstirred, word

Definition of bird in US English:

bird

nounbərdbərd

1A warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrate distinguished by the possession of feathers, wings, and a beak and (typically) by being able to fly.
Class Aves; birds probably evolved in the Jurassic period from small dinosaurs that may already have been warm-blooded
Example sentencesExamples
- Occasionally, a bird fluffs feathers and wings in a short flight, before returning to the field of perpetual avian motion.
- Hence, the possession of feathers is unique to birds and defines all members of the class Aves.
- Instead, the birds strike with their beaks and hook their fresh meat on thorns or barbed wire.
- Whether the flightless birds used their beaks to impale or bludgeon their prey is unknown, Chiappe says.
- Bounding and undulating flight are distinguished by the way the bird uses its wings during the resting phase.
- The black back of the bird separated the two wings from each other.
- They measure the bills and the wings, take the birds ' weights and label a leg of each with a colored marker.
- After you have clipped his wing, your bird will still be able to fly, but not for any distance.
- Marine mammals and large flying birds are the animals most likely to be able to benefit from foraging over very large distances.
- Note the curled feathers on the wings, which become more prominent when the bird raises its wings during threat display
- A bird needs wings for lift, tail feathers for control and lightweight bones.
- Youngsters were able to stroke the birds ' feathers.
- Such cases of female competition and aggression have been noted in many birds and other vertebrates.
- To this purpose the bird will hold its wings out from its body until dry enough for flight.
- When on the water, a sleeping bird will tuck its bill under its wing; on land birds may stand on one leg.
- I am currently using turkey feathers to fletch with, after spending half a day on a commercial turkey farm plucking wing feathers as the birds went into the slaughter house.
- They were not the feathered wings of a bird or the leathery ones of a bat, but something in-between, sharing the features of both.
- It requires no special morphological adaptations, although it is most effective in birds with low wing loading.
- With a three-foot wingspan and two long, streaming tail feathers, these birds are easy to recognize.
- On the fringes of the bay, fragile marshes and winding waterways are teeming with birds and wildlife.
Synonyms
fowl
1. 1.1 A bird that is hunted for sport or used for food.
  carve the bird at the dinner table
  Example sentencesExamples
  The farmer, seeing the birds he raised for food being killed, tried to persuade the hunter to stop.
  There were also clan-specific food taboos on particular birds and wild animals.
  Remove the birds and carve down one side of the breast bone, snipping the bird in half.
  Although we didn't detect any ginger in our ginger chicken fillet, the meat wasn't the tough old bird we often get off Bulgaria's grills.
  The fact that the villages needed to trap birds probably meant that food was in short supply.
  Moisten the top of the bird with olive oil and then season with thyme, rosemary, oregano, salt, pepper and a few pinches of cayenne.
  At the same time it brought the birds closer to sport hunters living in southern California cities.
  Shooting the birds was marginally better sport than bagging dodos and to win a rosette in pigeon-shooting you had to kill in excess of 30,000 passengers in a session.
  The second panel describes how coastal tribes came on seasonal trips for food, trapping birds and catching eels.
  When skeet shooting or bird hunting, those that ride high on the nose are preferred since you are shooting at objects moving upwards.
  Some people living near the husbandry have ignored warnings from the local administration and have stolen birds for food.
  Then they collected the eggs they didn't eat and stored them in casks, and they killed birds for both food and sport.
  I roast my grouse for a short time at a high temperature - as long as they are young birds - and rest them for as long as possible to relax the meat and give it a uniform rosiness.
  When it comes time to carve the bird, you'll find that although it has already given its life, the duck doesn't easily give in to the cook.
  The upland stamp would be required of those hunting doves, quail, pheasants and other upland birds.
  In medieval Europe, scribes used trimmed feathers from the wings of large birds and various inks to mark a set of alphabetic letters on parchment skins.
  The European Commission yesterday ordered a ban on all imports of birds and feathers from Turkey amid new fears over avian influenza.
2. 1.2North American informal An aircraft, spacecraft, satellite, or guided missile.
  the crews worked frantically to ready their birds for flight
  Example sentencesExamples
  The plane is a C130 Gunship, a classic old bird modified for special ops.
  Many of these birds are lovingly restored, bespeaking the inordinate affections heaped upon them by proud owners.
  I didn't do a full restoration but had the bird cleaned up and detailed out.
  I always like to relive those days spent flying the MATS version of it all over the world - a great bird.
  The only one currently in operation is NASA's Space Shuttle, an expensive old bird, and set for the scrap heap in just six years.
  The insurance on the plane was almost prohibitive and finding an airport and hangar for the bird was even more so.
  Now almost all the new birds entering the fleet have some form of pilot and passenger entertainment system.
  While there's a finite number of under- $60,000 airplanes, among them are some great budget birds.
  Within 90 minutes, he had the bird repaired and continued his trip south.
  Now he's the dedicated crew chief for the 23rd Bomb Squadron commander's bird, the Bomber Baron.
  Curtain, was an excellent artist so the honor was bestowed upon him to paint the war face on our bird as we prepared to go into battle.
  As the end of the runway loomed in front of him, he pulled back on the control wheel and forced his bird from its perch.
  We need better human intelligence and not just to rely on satellites and birds in the sky.
  When the Viper loses its engine, the whole bird usually goes with it.
  The novel solution was to get the Navy to take over the birds, assign them Bureau Numbers to camouflage and confuse the rest of us.
  After testing in 2004, the Air Force would like to buy six more ABLs and modify the test bird into an operational aircraft.
  Synonyms
  aircraft, craft, flying machine
2informal usually with adjective A person of a specified kind or character.
I'm a pretty tough old bird
Example sentencesExamples
- So I asked a wise old bird, ‘Sir, do you know any tricks to get this light to go out?’
- But the worst was an old bird who shouted at me about the poll tax and blamed me for Black Wednesday.
- Whether you have found a cure for cancer or you're just a daft old bird who can't drive makes no difference, as long as people know your face.
- Why make a film about a posh old bird and an emporium of entertainment?
- He's a tough old bird who has seen a lot of hard times.
- But when in Rome London, might as well embrace the moment and see what the old bird has to offer.
- He remained a tough old bird, long after he left the army.
- If you flipped through the channels fast enough, it looked like the old bird had finally made up with Diana.
- She's a strong old bird, but I don't think she'll recover from this one.
- Maybe the old bird that called it in wasn't wearing her glasses.
- To quote the old bird herself, we are not amused.
- The champion is a wily old bird however and Arthur was unable to press home his advantage.
- I sound like a tough old bird - but I sweated blood over this gallery and yet I would never want to have had those years any easier.
- Yet England will remain unbroken, staunch old bird that she is, accustomed to the IRA and the blitz of the Second World War.
- Every so often, in between weathercasts predicting temperatures in the 90s, they wheel out this wizened old bird.
- Will that wily old bird be proved right in the next few months?
- The landlady Anika was a senile old bird and was always telling me off for not paying my bills when I'd just paid her the day before.
- We had done everything to breathe life into the old bird.
- It seems there's still life left in the old bird after all.
- Her great-grandmother died of an unknown disease, and my gran was given a stack of money for the old bird's body - medical research I guess.
3British informal A young woman or a girlfriend.
Example sentencesExamples
- The other point is that men want to feel that the women they go out with mirror them - and we all want to prove that we can pull a younger bird.
- A fit bird means a girl who is pretty good looking or tasty!
- I had a friend who worked abroad minus his wife and ran off with a younger bird.
Synonyms
lady, girl, member of the fair sex, member of the gentle sex, female
girlfriend, girl, sweetheart, partner, significant other, inamorata, fiancée

Phrases

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

proverb It's better to be content with what you have than to risk losing everything by seeking more.
Example sentencesExamples
- Sometimes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush but occasionally, the bird in the hand is really only a reasonable facsimile of the other two.
- Tearing up the agreement may head off any potential lawsuits, but as far as TV coverage is concerned, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
- The KMT appears to have forgotten the old maximum that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush - and stands to become the biggest loser in the recall drive.
- In a possible offer situation for a troubled company, a bird in the hand is certainly worth more than two in the bush.
- The old adage that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush reflects the prudent strategy to go for the sure thing

the birds and the bees

informal Basic facts about sex and reproduction, as told to a child.
Example sentencesExamples
- Oh well, I suppose I will have to have ‘that’ little chat with him before he goes to work - the birds and the bees probably won't cut it with him, any suggestions?
- As an example, Ciya told me that when she told her son and daughter about the birds and the bees, she told them all about contraceptives, and she offered to buy condoms for both kids if they felt embarrassed to purchase them for themselves!
- ‘My father never told me about the birds and the bees,’ it goes.
- My parents still haven't told me about the birds and the bees!
- When it comes to facts and values, we both agree that ‘moral facts are in as good a shape as facts about the birds and the bees ', whatever that shape may be.
- He's far too busy sewing the sequins on the little one's concert outfit, helping Timmy with his algebra, and talking through the birds and the bees to a pre-pubescent Melanie.
- There isn't a parent in the land who doesn't dread the day their child first asks about the birds and the bees.
- Probably the best scene in the play is where a Yorkshireman much older than me tries to sit me down and explain the birds and the bees.
Synonyms
the facts of life, sexual reproduction, reproduction

birds of a feather flock together

proverb People of the same sort or with the same tastes and interests will be found together.
these health professionals were birds of a feather
Example sentencesExamples
- It's more of a case of birds of a feather flock together - people tend to gravitate to other people who are like themselves.
- The bottom line is that birds of a feather flock together.
- Remember how your mother used to say that birds of a feather flock together, and you thought it was just a cheap attempt to insult your boyfriend?
- Do opposites attract or do birds of a feather flock together?
- It seems to me - I do not know - that birds of a feather flock together.

flip someone the bird (or flip the bird)

informal Stick one's middle finger up at someone as a sign of contempt or anger, meaning 'fuck you'.
Compare with give someone the finger in finger
Example sentencesExamples
- Without hesitation I started walking away, Billy started yelling for me, pleading for me to turn around, but I stuck my hand in the air and flipped him the bird.
- Dustin tried to flick him a thumbs-up sign, however, out of nervousness he flipped him the bird instead, accidentally, of course.
- He sticks his hand out the window and flips me the bird.
- Alya was about to flip him the bird, but changed her mind and stuck out her tongue instead.
- She stuck her arm behind her back and flipped me the bird.

(strictly) for the birds

informal Not worth consideration; unimportant.
this piece of legislation is for the birds
Example sentencesExamples
- I hadn't intended to run on at such length about the crow, which I was using simply as one example of a wider thesis: that nature remains strictly for the birds.
- Leaving the telly on is strictly for the birds…
- Purity is for the birds, as Rand would say, yet not adhere to.
- As for capital gains tax on main residences as well as second homes, that is strictly for the birds.
- When I was 10, I told my father that this annual migration to the south was strictly for the birds.

give someone the bird

1informal Boo or jeer at someone.
Example sentencesExamples
- I have an aversion to sites which literally give you the bird on the front page, so I didn't linger.
- A guy misses a match - for his own reasons no doubt, that is not a justification to give him the bird.
- And while mobile phone tunes may already give you the bird, it could be worse, South suggests.
2informal Stick one's middle finger up at someone as a sign of contempt or anger.
he gave his bench the bird, saluted and left the game
Example sentencesExamples
- I smiled to myself as I watched her start spluttering and yelling after the car and giving him the bird.
- Ever since I graduated, in 1977, people have never tired of giving me the bird.
- It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as giving the bird.
- Maybe when Ron Sims gets on a bus to promote yet another tax increase for transportation the driver can give him the bird in the spirit of political free speech.
- Residents and shoppers in Rayleigh have been given the bird after council plans to try and deter pigeons from the town centre were abandoned.

have a bird

informal Be very shocked or agitated.
I would have a bird if my kids did this
Example sentencesExamples
- "Hi Mutt, hey I've got a great joke to play on Alice. Lets fill out the card and then you leave and come back about two minutes after the game starts. She will have a bird."
- The public seemed to like it, but the critic from the Vancouver Province came with his wife, and he had a bird: ‘How could I invite him to see this movie?’
- But the critic from The Province came with his wife and had a bird.

a little bird told me

humorous Used to say that the speaker knows something but prefers to keep the identity of the informant a secret.
a little bird told me it was your birthday
Example sentencesExamples
- Well - a little bird told me that you might have an interest in ships nowadays.
- I was about to convince myself that people were finally losing interest in the story, when a little bird told me to keep going.
- ‘No, a little bird told me,’ Janelle said, anger and sarcasm dripping from her words.
- Hmmm… a little bird told me this morning that Ms. Hayward has a brand new boyfriend.
- He smiled, shrugging casually, ‘Oh… a little bird told me…‘

Origin

Old English brid ‘chick, fledgling’, of unknown origin.

单词	bird
释义	Definition of bird in English: bird noun bəːdbərd 1A warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrate animal distinguished by the possession of feathers, wings, a beak, and typically by being able to fly. Class Aves; birds probably evolved in the Jurassic period from small dinosaurs that may already have been warm-blooded Example sentencesExamples Marine mammals and large flying birds are the animals most likely to be able to benefit from foraging over very large distances. A bird needs wings for lift, tail feathers for control and lightweight bones. Occasionally, a bird fluffs feathers and wings in a short flight, before returning to the field of perpetual avian motion. The black back of the bird separated the two wings from each other. When on the water, a sleeping bird will tuck its bill under its wing; on land birds may stand on one leg. It requires no special morphological adaptations, although it is most effective in birds with low wing loading. They were not the feathered wings of a bird or the leathery ones of a bat, but something in-between, sharing the features of both. Instead, the birds strike with their beaks and hook their fresh meat on thorns or barbed wire. Hence, the possession of feathers is unique to birds and defines all members of the class Aves. I am currently using turkey feathers to fletch with, after spending half a day on a commercial turkey farm plucking wing feathers as the birds went into the slaughter house. Bounding and undulating flight are distinguished by the way the bird uses its wings during the resting phase. They measure the bills and the wings, take the birds ' weights and label a leg of each with a colored marker. Note the curled feathers on the wings, which become more prominent when the bird raises its wings during threat display Such cases of female competition and aggression have been noted in many birds and other vertebrates. After you have clipped his wing, your bird will still be able to fly, but not for any distance. With a three-foot wingspan and two long, streaming tail feathers, these birds are easy to recognize. Whether the flightless birds used their beaks to impale or bludgeon their prey is unknown, Chiappe says. On the fringes of the bay, fragile marshes and winding waterways are teeming with birds and wildlife. Youngsters were able to stroke the birds ' feathers. To this purpose the bird will hold its wings out from its body until dry enough for flight. Synonyms fowl songbird, warbler, passerine bird of prey, raptor chick, fledgling, nestling (birds), avifauna informal feathered friend, birdie 1.1 A bird that is hunted for sport or used for food. carve the bird and arrange on a warmed serving plate Example sentencesExamples The fact that the villages needed to trap birds probably meant that food was in short supply. The upland stamp would be required of those hunting doves, quail, pheasants and other upland birds. The European Commission yesterday ordered a ban on all imports of birds and feathers from Turkey amid new fears over avian influenza. When it comes time to carve the bird, you'll find that although it has already given its life, the duck doesn't easily give in to the cook. I roast my grouse for a short time at a high temperature - as long as they are young birds - and rest them for as long as possible to relax the meat and give it a uniform rosiness. Moisten the top of the bird with olive oil and then season with thyme, rosemary, oregano, salt, pepper and a few pinches of cayenne. The farmer, seeing the birds he raised for food being killed, tried to persuade the hunter to stop. At the same time it brought the birds closer to sport hunters living in southern California cities. Then they collected the eggs they didn't eat and stored them in casks, and they killed birds for both food and sport. Shooting the birds was marginally better sport than bagging dodos and to win a rosette in pigeon-shooting you had to kill in excess of 30,000 passengers in a session. The second panel describes how coastal tribes came on seasonal trips for food, trapping birds and catching eels. Remove the birds and carve down one side of the breast bone, snipping the bird in half. There were also clan-specific food taboos on particular birds and wild animals. In medieval Europe, scribes used trimmed feathers from the wings of large birds and various inks to mark a set of alphabetic letters on parchment skins. Although we didn't detect any ginger in our ginger chicken fillet, the meat wasn't the tough old bird we often get off Bulgaria's grills. When skeet shooting or bird hunting, those that ride high on the nose are preferred since you are shooting at objects moving upwards. Some people living near the husbandry have ignored warnings from the local administration and have stolen birds for food. 1.2North American informal An aircraft, spacecraft, or satellite. Example sentencesExamples The novel solution was to get the Navy to take over the birds, assign them Bureau Numbers to camouflage and confuse the rest of us. Now he's the dedicated crew chief for the 23rd Bomb Squadron commander's bird, the Bomber Baron. After testing in 2004, the Air Force would like to buy six more ABLs and modify the test bird into an operational aircraft. The plane is a C130 Gunship, a classic old bird modified for special ops. We need better human intelligence and not just to rely on satellites and birds in the sky. I didn't do a full restoration but had the bird cleaned up and detailed out. While there's a finite number of under- $60,000 airplanes, among them are some great budget birds. I always like to relive those days spent flying the MATS version of it all over the world - a great bird. The only one currently in operation is NASA's Space Shuttle, an expensive old bird, and set for the scrap heap in just six years. Many of these birds are lovingly restored, bespeaking the inordinate affections heaped upon them by proud owners. As the end of the runway loomed in front of him, he pulled back on the control wheel and forced his bird from its perch. The insurance on the plane was almost prohibitive and finding an airport and hangar for the bird was even more so. Within 90 minutes, he had the bird repaired and continued his trip south. Curtain, was an excellent artist so the honor was bestowed upon him to paint the war face on our bird as we prepared to go into battle. Now almost all the new birds entering the fleet have some form of pilot and passenger entertainment system. When the Viper loses its engine, the whole bird usually goes with it. Synonyms aircraft, craft, flying machine 2informal A person of a specified kind or character. she's a sharp old bird Example sentencesExamples He remained a tough old bird, long after he left the army. Maybe the old bird that called it in wasn't wearing her glasses. So I asked a wise old bird, ‘Sir, do you know any tricks to get this light to go out?’ To quote the old bird herself, we are not amused. Why make a film about a posh old bird and an emporium of entertainment? Her great-grandmother died of an unknown disease, and my gran was given a stack of money for the old bird's body - medical research I guess. Whether you have found a cure for cancer or you're just a daft old bird who can't drive makes no difference, as long as people know your face. It seems there's still life left in the old bird after all. The champion is a wily old bird however and Arthur was unable to press home his advantage. We had done everything to breathe life into the old bird. Will that wily old bird be proved right in the next few months? The landlady Anika was a senile old bird and was always telling me off for not paying my bills when I'd just paid her the day before. But when in Rome London, might as well embrace the moment and see what the old bird has to offer. He's a tough old bird who has seen a lot of hard times. Every so often, in between weathercasts predicting temperatures in the 90s, they wheel out this wizened old bird. She's a strong old bird, but I don't think she'll recover from this one. But the worst was an old bird who shouted at me about the poll tax and blamed me for Black Wednesday. Yet England will remain unbroken, staunch old bird that she is, accustomed to the IRA and the blitz of the Second World War. I sound like a tough old bird - but I sweated blood over this gallery and yet I would never want to have had those years any easier. If you flipped through the channels fast enough, it looked like the old bird had finally made up with Diana. 3British informal A young woman or a girlfriend. Example sentencesExamples The other point is that men want to feel that the women they go out with mirror them - and we all want to prove that we can pull a younger bird. A fit bird means a girl who is pretty good looking or tasty! I had a friend who worked abroad minus his wife and ran off with a younger bird. Synonyms lady, girl, member of the fair sex, member of the gentle sex, female girlfriend, girl, sweetheart, partner, significant other, inamorata, fiancée Phrases the bird has flown The person one is looking for has escaped or left. Example sentencesExamples Once the bird has flown, it's too late to do anything about it. The translation, for the benefit of my learned friend Mr Brownlee, is: the bird has flown its nest and it is free to fly the skies of the world. But the Labour Party Government is not going to amend the law now; it will do so after the bird has flown. a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush proverb It's better to be content with what you have than to risk losing everything by seeking to get more. Example sentencesExamples The old adage that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush reflects the prudent strategy to go for the sure thing Sometimes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush but occasionally, the bird in the hand is really only a reasonable facsimile of the other two. Tearing up the agreement may head off any potential lawsuits, but as far as TV coverage is concerned, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. The KMT appears to have forgotten the old maximum that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush - and stands to become the biggest loser in the recall drive. In a possible offer situation for a troubled company, a bird in the hand is certainly worth more than two in the bush. the birds and the bees informal Basic facts about sex and reproduction, as told to a child. Example sentencesExamples Oh well, I suppose I will have to have ‘that’ little chat with him before he goes to work - the birds and the bees probably won't cut it with him, any suggestions? He's far too busy sewing the sequins on the little one's concert outfit, helping Timmy with his algebra, and talking through the birds and the bees to a pre-pubescent Melanie. My parents still haven't told me about the birds and the bees! As an example, Ciya told me that when she told her son and daughter about the birds and the bees, she told them all about contraceptives, and she offered to buy condoms for both kids if they felt embarrassed to purchase them for themselves! Probably the best scene in the play is where a Yorkshireman much older than me tries to sit me down and explain the birds and the bees. When it comes to facts and values, we both agree that ‘moral facts are in as good a shape as facts about the birds and the bees ', whatever that shape may be. ‘My father never told me about the birds and the bees,’ it goes. There isn't a parent in the land who doesn't dread the day their child first asks about the birds and the bees. Synonyms the facts of life, sexual reproduction, reproduction birds of a feather flock together proverb People of the same sort or with the same tastes and interests will be found together. these health professionals sure were birds of a feather Example sentencesExamples It's more of a case of birds of a feather flock together - people tend to gravitate to other people who are like themselves. It seems to me - I do not know - that birds of a feather flock together. Do opposites attract or do birds of a feather flock together? Remember how your mother used to say that birds of a feather flock together, and you thought it was just a cheap attempt to insult your boyfriend? The bottom line is that birds of a feather flock together. do (one's) bird informal Serve a prison sentence. Example sentencesExamples As a couple of the drunks walked past me I heard one say to the other ‘… I don't think that's a good idea to do that, you don't want to be doing bird again…" A warrant for his arrest has now been issued and he may end up doing bird rather than feeding them! Police surgeon Alec ‘the Knife’ Mitchell also did bird with current and former Essex High Sheriffs Mark ‘the Reaper’ Thomasin-Forster and Andrew ‘the Sabre’ Streeter. He was explaining in detail about some armed robbery he'd been involved in, how they'd shot through the kitchen window and how he was sure he was doing bird this time. Synonyms incarcerated, in prison, in jail, jailed, locked up, in custody, under lock and key, interned, confined, detained, held prisoner, captive, held captive, in chains, in irons, clapped in irons flip someone the bird (or flip the bird) informal Stick one's middle finger up at someone as a sign of contempt or anger. Example sentencesExamples Without hesitation I started walking away, Billy started yelling for me, pleading for me to turn around, but I stuck my hand in the air and flipped him the bird. Alya was about to flip him the bird, but changed her mind and stuck out her tongue instead. She stuck her arm behind her back and flipped me the bird. Dustin tried to flick him a thumbs-up sign, however, out of nervousness he flipped him the bird instead, accidentally, of course. He sticks his hand out the window and flips me the bird. (strictly) for the birds informal Not worthy of consideration. Example sentencesExamples When I was 10, I told my father that this annual migration to the south was strictly for the birds. I hadn't intended to run on at such length about the crow, which I was using simply as one example of a wider thesis: that nature remains strictly for the birds. Leaving the telly on is strictly for the birds… Purity is for the birds, as Rand would say, yet not adhere to. As for capital gains tax on main residences as well as second homes, that is strictly for the birds. get the bird informal Be booed or jeered at. Example sentencesExamples He wanted to be Harry Kewell right up until the moment when Kewell misses a sitter and gets the bird. It didn't take me long to realise I was getting the bird in the gilded cage treatment. He was getting the bird every time he touched the ball, which admittedly wasn't often, and he roamed from wing to wing, either to seek the ball or a lower level of personal animus. Some repetition's necessary of course, but it is far more interesting and amusing to watch Tanya's teaching methods getting the bird from Lucky than hearing a song sung all the way through after hearing it previously in sections. give someone the bird 1informal Boo or jeer at someone. Example sentencesExamples A guy misses a match - for his own reasons no doubt, that is not a justification to give him the bird. I have an aversion to sites which literally give you the bird on the front page, so I didn't linger. And while mobile phone tunes may already give you the bird, it could be worse, South suggests. 2informal Stick one's middle finger up at someone as a sign of contempt or anger. he gave his bench the bird, saluted and left the game Example sentencesExamples I smiled to myself as I watched her start spluttering and yelling after the car and giving him the bird. Ever since I graduated, in 1977, people have never tired of giving me the bird. Maybe when Ron Sims gets on a bus to promote yet another tax increase for transportation the driver can give him the bird in the spirit of political free speech. It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as giving the bird. Residents and shoppers in Rayleigh have been given the bird after council plans to try and deter pigeons from the town centre were abandoned. have a bird informal Be very shocked or agitated. I would have a bird if my kids did this Example sentencesExamples The public seemed to like it, but the critic from the Vancouver Province came with his wife, and he had a bird: ‘How could I invite him to see this movie?’ But the critic from The Province came with his wife and had a bird. "Hi Mutt, hey I've got a great joke to play on Alice. Lets fill out the card and then you leave and come back about two minutes after the game starts. She will have a bird." a little bird told me humorous Used to indicate that the speaker knows something but chooses to keep the identity of their informant secret. a little bird told me it was your birthday Example sentencesExamples Well - a little bird told me that you might have an interest in ships nowadays. ‘No, a little bird told me,’ Janelle said, anger and sarcasm dripping from her words. I was about to convince myself that people were finally losing interest in the story, when a little bird told me to keep going. Hmmm… a little bird told me this morning that Ms. Hayward has a brand new boyfriend. He smiled, shrugging casually, ‘Oh… a little bird told me…‘ Origin Old English brid 'chick, fledgling', of unknown origin. The origin of bird is unknown, and there are no parallel forms in any of the languages related to English. Old English brid (with the r before the i) meant only a chick or a nestling: an adult bird was a fowl. The form brid existed alongside bird in the literary language into the 15th century, but after that it survived only in dialect. Meanwhile fowl stopped being a general term, and it now refers only to specialized groups such as wildfowl and waterfowl. The first record of the proverb a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush comes in the mid 15th century. In birds of a feather flock together, first recorded a century later, the word ‘a’ means ‘one’ or ‘the same’. The British slang use of bird to mean a young woman is associated with the 1960s and 1970s, but goes back as far as the Middle Ages. In those days there was another word bird, also spelled burd, that meant a young woman, which people confused with the familiar bird. The Virgin Mary could be described in those days as ‘that blissful bird of grace’. The modern use, recorded from the beginning of the 20th century, appears to be something of a revival. The earliest version of the expression give someone the bird, meaning to boo or jeer at them, is the big bird, which was used by people working in the theatre in the early 19th century. The big bird referred to was a goose, a bird well known for its aggressive hissing when threatened or annoyed. The booing and hissing of the audience at an actor's poor performance might well have suggested a flock of angry geese. Bird meaning ‘a prison sentence’ is a shortening of birdlime (see also viscous) used in rhyming slang to mean ‘time’. So if you were ‘doing bird’ or ‘doing birdlime’, you were ‘doing time’, a sense known from the mid 19th century. In golf a birdie is a score of one stroke under par (see pair) at a hole. Two under par is an eagle, three under par is an albatross or double eagle, and one over par is a bogey (see bogus). This scoring terminology is said to have originated at the end of the 19th century when an American golfer hit a bird with his drive yet still managed to score one under par at the hole—this bird suggested birdie, and the other bird names were added to continue the theme. Rhymes absurd, Byrd, curd, engird, gird, Heard, herd, Kurd, misheard, nerd, overheard, reheard, third, undergird, undeterred, unheard, unstirred, word noun.1 phr. Definition of bird in US English: bird nounbərdbərd 1A warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrate distinguished by the possession of feathers, wings, and a beak and (typically) by being able to fly. Class Aves; birds probably evolved in the Jurassic period from small dinosaurs that may already have been warm-blooded Example sentencesExamples Occasionally, a bird fluffs feathers and wings in a short flight, before returning to the field of perpetual avian motion. Hence, the possession of feathers is unique to birds and defines all members of the class Aves. Instead, the birds strike with their beaks and hook their fresh meat on thorns or barbed wire. Whether the flightless birds used their beaks to impale or bludgeon their prey is unknown, Chiappe says. Bounding and undulating flight are distinguished by the way the bird uses its wings during the resting phase. The black back of the bird separated the two wings from each other. They measure the bills and the wings, take the birds ' weights and label a leg of each with a colored marker. After you have clipped his wing, your bird will still be able to fly, but not for any distance. Marine mammals and large flying birds are the animals most likely to be able to benefit from foraging over very large distances. Note the curled feathers on the wings, which become more prominent when the bird raises its wings during threat display A bird needs wings for lift, tail feathers for control and lightweight bones. Youngsters were able to stroke the birds ' feathers. Such cases of female competition and aggression have been noted in many birds and other vertebrates. To this purpose the bird will hold its wings out from its body until dry enough for flight. When on the water, a sleeping bird will tuck its bill under its wing; on land birds may stand on one leg. I am currently using turkey feathers to fletch with, after spending half a day on a commercial turkey farm plucking wing feathers as the birds went into the slaughter house. They were not the feathered wings of a bird or the leathery ones of a bat, but something in-between, sharing the features of both. It requires no special morphological adaptations, although it is most effective in birds with low wing loading. With a three-foot wingspan and two long, streaming tail feathers, these birds are easy to recognize. On the fringes of the bay, fragile marshes and winding waterways are teeming with birds and wildlife. Synonyms fowl 1.1 A bird that is hunted for sport or used for food. carve the bird at the dinner table Example sentencesExamples The farmer, seeing the birds he raised for food being killed, tried to persuade the hunter to stop. There were also clan-specific food taboos on particular birds and wild animals. Remove the birds and carve down one side of the breast bone, snipping the bird in half. Although we didn't detect any ginger in our ginger chicken fillet, the meat wasn't the tough old bird we often get off Bulgaria's grills. The fact that the villages needed to trap birds probably meant that food was in short supply. Moisten the top of the bird with olive oil and then season with thyme, rosemary, oregano, salt, pepper and a few pinches of cayenne. At the same time it brought the birds closer to sport hunters living in southern California cities. Shooting the birds was marginally better sport than bagging dodos and to win a rosette in pigeon-shooting you had to kill in excess of 30,000 passengers in a session. The second panel describes how coastal tribes came on seasonal trips for food, trapping birds and catching eels. When skeet shooting or bird hunting, those that ride high on the nose are preferred since you are shooting at objects moving upwards. Some people living near the husbandry have ignored warnings from the local administration and have stolen birds for food. Then they collected the eggs they didn't eat and stored them in casks, and they killed birds for both food and sport. I roast my grouse for a short time at a high temperature - as long as they are young birds - and rest them for as long as possible to relax the meat and give it a uniform rosiness. When it comes time to carve the bird, you'll find that although it has already given its life, the duck doesn't easily give in to the cook. The upland stamp would be required of those hunting doves, quail, pheasants and other upland birds. In medieval Europe, scribes used trimmed feathers from the wings of large birds and various inks to mark a set of alphabetic letters on parchment skins. The European Commission yesterday ordered a ban on all imports of birds and feathers from Turkey amid new fears over avian influenza. 1.2North American informal An aircraft, spacecraft, satellite, or guided missile. the crews worked frantically to ready their birds for flight Example sentencesExamples The plane is a C130 Gunship, a classic old bird modified for special ops. Many of these birds are lovingly restored, bespeaking the inordinate affections heaped upon them by proud owners. I didn't do a full restoration but had the bird cleaned up and detailed out. I always like to relive those days spent flying the MATS version of it all over the world - a great bird. The only one currently in operation is NASA's Space Shuttle, an expensive old bird, and set for the scrap heap in just six years. The insurance on the plane was almost prohibitive and finding an airport and hangar for the bird was even more so. Now almost all the new birds entering the fleet have some form of pilot and passenger entertainment system. While there's a finite number of under- $60,000 airplanes, among them are some great budget birds. Within 90 minutes, he had the bird repaired and continued his trip south. Now he's the dedicated crew chief for the 23rd Bomb Squadron commander's bird, the Bomber Baron. Curtain, was an excellent artist so the honor was bestowed upon him to paint the war face on our bird as we prepared to go into battle. As the end of the runway loomed in front of him, he pulled back on the control wheel and forced his bird from its perch. We need better human intelligence and not just to rely on satellites and birds in the sky. When the Viper loses its engine, the whole bird usually goes with it. The novel solution was to get the Navy to take over the birds, assign them Bureau Numbers to camouflage and confuse the rest of us. After testing in 2004, the Air Force would like to buy six more ABLs and modify the test bird into an operational aircraft. Synonyms aircraft, craft, flying machine 2informal usually with adjective A person of a specified kind or character. I'm a pretty tough old bird Example sentencesExamples So I asked a wise old bird, ‘Sir, do you know any tricks to get this light to go out?’ But the worst was an old bird who shouted at me about the poll tax and blamed me for Black Wednesday. Whether you have found a cure for cancer or you're just a daft old bird who can't drive makes no difference, as long as people know your face. Why make a film about a posh old bird and an emporium of entertainment? He's a tough old bird who has seen a lot of hard times. But when in Rome London, might as well embrace the moment and see what the old bird has to offer. He remained a tough old bird, long after he left the army. If you flipped through the channels fast enough, it looked like the old bird had finally made up with Diana. She's a strong old bird, but I don't think she'll recover from this one. Maybe the old bird that called it in wasn't wearing her glasses. To quote the old bird herself, we are not amused. The champion is a wily old bird however and Arthur was unable to press home his advantage. I sound like a tough old bird - but I sweated blood over this gallery and yet I would never want to have had those years any easier. Yet England will remain unbroken, staunch old bird that she is, accustomed to the IRA and the blitz of the Second World War. Every so often, in between weathercasts predicting temperatures in the 90s, they wheel out this wizened old bird. Will that wily old bird be proved right in the next few months? The landlady Anika was a senile old bird and was always telling me off for not paying my bills when I'd just paid her the day before. We had done everything to breathe life into the old bird. It seems there's still life left in the old bird after all. Her great-grandmother died of an unknown disease, and my gran was given a stack of money for the old bird's body - medical research I guess. 3British informal A young woman or a girlfriend. Example sentencesExamples The other point is that men want to feel that the women they go out with mirror them - and we all want to prove that we can pull a younger bird. A fit bird means a girl who is pretty good looking or tasty! I had a friend who worked abroad minus his wife and ran off with a younger bird. Synonyms lady, girl, member of the fair sex, member of the gentle sex, female girlfriend, girl, sweetheart, partner, significant other, inamorata, fiancée Phrases a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush proverb It's better to be content with what you have than to risk losing everything by seeking more. Example sentencesExamples Sometimes a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush but occasionally, the bird in the hand is really only a reasonable facsimile of the other two. Tearing up the agreement may head off any potential lawsuits, but as far as TV coverage is concerned, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. The KMT appears to have forgotten the old maximum that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush - and stands to become the biggest loser in the recall drive. In a possible offer situation for a troubled company, a bird in the hand is certainly worth more than two in the bush. The old adage that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush reflects the prudent strategy to go for the sure thing the birds and the bees informal Basic facts about sex and reproduction, as told to a child. Example sentencesExamples Oh well, I suppose I will have to have ‘that’ little chat with him before he goes to work - the birds and the bees probably won't cut it with him, any suggestions? As an example, Ciya told me that when she told her son and daughter about the birds and the bees, she told them all about contraceptives, and she offered to buy condoms for both kids if they felt embarrassed to purchase them for themselves! ‘My father never told me about the birds and the bees,’ it goes. My parents still haven't told me about the birds and the bees! When it comes to facts and values, we both agree that ‘moral facts are in as good a shape as facts about the birds and the bees ', whatever that shape may be. He's far too busy sewing the sequins on the little one's concert outfit, helping Timmy with his algebra, and talking through the birds and the bees to a pre-pubescent Melanie. There isn't a parent in the land who doesn't dread the day their child first asks about the birds and the bees. Probably the best scene in the play is where a Yorkshireman much older than me tries to sit me down and explain the birds and the bees. Synonyms the facts of life, sexual reproduction, reproduction birds of a feather flock together proverb People of the same sort or with the same tastes and interests will be found together. these health professionals were birds of a feather Example sentencesExamples It's more of a case of birds of a feather flock together - people tend to gravitate to other people who are like themselves. The bottom line is that birds of a feather flock together. Remember how your mother used to say that birds of a feather flock together, and you thought it was just a cheap attempt to insult your boyfriend? Do opposites attract or do birds of a feather flock together? It seems to me - I do not know - that birds of a feather flock together. flip someone the bird (or flip the bird) informal Stick one's middle finger up at someone as a sign of contempt or anger, meaning 'fuck you'. Compare with give someone the finger in finger Example sentencesExamples Without hesitation I started walking away, Billy started yelling for me, pleading for me to turn around, but I stuck my hand in the air and flipped him the bird. Dustin tried to flick him a thumbs-up sign, however, out of nervousness he flipped him the bird instead, accidentally, of course. He sticks his hand out the window and flips me the bird. Alya was about to flip him the bird, but changed her mind and stuck out her tongue instead. She stuck her arm behind her back and flipped me the bird. (strictly) for the birds informal Not worth consideration; unimportant. this piece of legislation is for the birds Example sentencesExamples I hadn't intended to run on at such length about the crow, which I was using simply as one example of a wider thesis: that nature remains strictly for the birds. Leaving the telly on is strictly for the birds… Purity is for the birds, as Rand would say, yet not adhere to. As for capital gains tax on main residences as well as second homes, that is strictly for the birds. When I was 10, I told my father that this annual migration to the south was strictly for the birds. give someone the bird 1informal Boo or jeer at someone. Example sentencesExamples I have an aversion to sites which literally give you the bird on the front page, so I didn't linger. A guy misses a match - for his own reasons no doubt, that is not a justification to give him the bird. And while mobile phone tunes may already give you the bird, it could be worse, South suggests. 2informal Stick one's middle finger up at someone as a sign of contempt or anger. he gave his bench the bird, saluted and left the game Example sentencesExamples I smiled to myself as I watched her start spluttering and yelling after the car and giving him the bird. Ever since I graduated, in 1977, people have never tired of giving me the bird. It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows used with the longbow that the symbolic gesture is known as giving the bird. Maybe when Ron Sims gets on a bus to promote yet another tax increase for transportation the driver can give him the bird in the spirit of political free speech. Residents and shoppers in Rayleigh have been given the bird after council plans to try and deter pigeons from the town centre were abandoned. have a bird informal Be very shocked or agitated. I would have a bird if my kids did this Example sentencesExamples "Hi Mutt, hey I've got a great joke to play on Alice. Lets fill out the card and then you leave and come back about two minutes after the game starts. She will have a bird." The public seemed to like it, but the critic from the Vancouver Province came with his wife, and he had a bird: ‘How could I invite him to see this movie?’ But the critic from The Province came with his wife and had a bird. a little bird told me humorous Used to say that the speaker knows something but prefers to keep the identity of the informant a secret. a little bird told me it was your birthday Example sentencesExamples Well - a little bird told me that you might have an interest in ships nowadays. I was about to convince myself that people were finally losing interest in the story, when a little bird told me to keep going. ‘No, a little bird told me,’ Janelle said, anger and sarcasm dripping from her words. Hmmm… a little bird told me this morning that Ms. Hayward has a brand new boyfriend. He smiled, shrugging casually, ‘Oh… a little bird told me…‘ Origin Old English brid ‘chick, fledgling’, of unknown origin. noun.1 phr.
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