bird
- noun
- /bɜrd/
- On traditional wooden flutes, the bird is usually secured to the flute body with a leather cord.
Examples
-
After the practice bird, the squad begins to shoot clay pigeons released electronically by the "puller."
Academic text (1995) -
In badminton, you score points by hitting the bird over the net to your opponent.
-
By pulling on it, one could make the bird flap its wings.
Fiction book (1993) -
We agree to meet at 7:00 A.M., just outside the Jerusalem Bird Observatory.
Academic text (2001) -
During the match, the players were focused on returning the bird as accurately as possible.
-
She carefully placed the bird on the serving tray to prepare for the game.
Synonyms
A light feathered object hit over the net in badminton
A small cone-shaped object with feathers or plastic that players hit in badminton
A light object with feathers or plastic used in badminton instead of a ball
Idioms
Compounds
- Australian
A brightly colored bird from New Guinea with showy feathers and a special mating dance
Large tropical seabird with long wings and a forked tail that often steals food from other birds while flying
- Indian
A tropical bird from Asia that copies human speech and is often kept as a pet
- Specialized
A dinosaur that eats meat and has short front legs and strong back legs for running
A mostly white tropical bird with webbed feet and long tail feathers that lives at sea
- Specialized
A small wingless insect that lives on birds and bites their skin or feathers
- Archaic
A large bird from Southeast Asia that people keep for bright feathers and beauty
A climbing plant with dense groups of purple-blue flowers often found in fields and gardens
- Specialized
A long-winged night bird like a nightjar that eats insects in the air
- Specialized
A bird with a raised ridge on its breastbone that holds strong wing muscles
A small European tree with clusters of sweet-smelling white flowers and black fruit eaten by birds
- Specialized
A bird like a cuckoo or roadrunner with two toes pointing forward and two back for perching securely
- Specialized
A bird with long wings and weak feet that spends most of its time flying like swifts and hummingbirds
A small European tree that has groups of white flowers and small black fruit
A large sea bird with a long beak, very long wings, and a forked tail that flies over warm seas
- Australian
A bird with large feet that builds piles of dead plants to keep its eggs warm
- Australian
A large bird with big feet that builds mounds of dead plants to keep its eggs warm
Surface Forms
Etymology
Bird in badminton is a short name for the shuttlecock because it is made with feathers and flies like a small bird, so players simply call the shuttlecock a 'bird'.