bird

UK: /bɜːd/ US: /bɝd/ ,(bûrd)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

bird /bɜrd/   n. 

1. any warm-blooded, egg-laying animal having feathers:
   [countable] watched the birds soaring overhead.
2. Slang Terms [countable] a person, esp. one having some special or unusual feature:
   a strange bird.
3. Aeronautics, Informal Terms Informal. an aircraft, spacecraft, or guided missile:
   [countable] We're tracking the birds on radar at about five miles out and approaching fast.
4. British Terms Chiefly Brit. Slang. a girl or young woman:
   [countable] a really smashing pair of birds.

Idioms

5. Idioms bird in the hand, [countable] a thing that is actually possessed, as opposed to a thing that one wishes one had: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Also, bird in hand.
6. Idioms birds of a feather, [plural] people with similar attitudes, interests, or experience:
   Birds of a feather flock together (= People with the same interests often stay together).
7. Idioms eat like a bird, to eat just a little.
8. Idioms, Slang Terms for the birds, [be + ~] .[Informal.] worthless;
   silly:
   I think that plan is for the birds; don't even suggest it to the boss.
9. Idioms kill two birds with one stone, to achieve two purposes with a single effort:
   She killed two birds with one stone by shopping and visiting the museum on the same trip.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

bird  (bûrd), n. 

1. Birds 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. Sport
   • See clay pigeon. 
   • a shuttlecock.
4. Slang Terms a person, esp. one having some peculiarity:
   He's a queer bird.
5. Aeronautics, Informal Terms [Informal.] an aircraft, spacecraft, or guided missile.
6. Food [Cookery.] a thin piece of meat, poultry, or fish rolled around a stuffing and braised:
   veal birds.
7. Dialect Terms [Southern U.S.] (in hunting) a bobwhite.
8. British Terms [Chiefly Brit. Slang.] a girl or young woman.
9. [Archaic.] the young of any fowl.
10. Informal Terms, Idioms a little bird, a secret source of information:
    A little bird told me that today is your birthday.
11. Idioms bird in the hand, a thing possessed in fact as opposed to a thing about which one speculates:
    A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
    Also, bird in hand. 
12. Idioms birds of a feather, people with interests, opinions, or backgrounds in common:
    Birds of a feather flock together.
13. Idioms 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.
14. Slang Terms 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.
15. Idioms 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.
16. Slang Terms the bird:
    • disapproval, as of a performance, by hissing, booing, etc.:
      He got the bird when he came out on stage.
    • scoffing or ridicule:
      He was trying to be serious, but we all gave him the bird.
    • an obscene gesture of contempt made by raising the middle finger.
17. Slang Terms 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.

v.i. 

18. to catch or shoot birds.
19. to bird-watch.

• Middle English byrd, bryd, Old English brid(d) young bird, chick bef. 900

bird′less, adj. 

Bird  (bûrd), n. 

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

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

bird / 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. a person (usually preceded by a qualifying adjective, as in the phrases rare bird, odd bird, clever bird)
3. a girl or young woman, esp one's girlfriend
4. prison or a term in prison (esp in the phrase do bird; shortened from birdlime, rhyming slang for time)
5. a bird in the hand ⇒ something definite or certain
6. birds of a feather ⇒ people with the same characteristics, ideas, interests, etc
7. get the bird ⇒ to be fired or dismissed
8. (esp of a public performer) to be hissed at, booed, or derided
9. kill two birds with one stone ⇒ to accomplish two things with one action
10. for the birds, strictly for the birds ⇒ deserving of disdain or contempt; not important

Etymology: Old English bridd, of unknown origin