bird food
1
1.0
- noun
- /bɜrd fud/
:
comida para aves
- Anyway, the point is, you, you're never going to be happy if you're eating this fucking bird food.
- eat bird food
Examples
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Make sure to refill the bird food feeder every few days to keep the birds coming back.
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Sometimes they eat all the bird food—every bit.
Fiction book (2000) -
He's been eating bird food!
Fiction book (1990) -
"The squirrels have no choice but to eat bird food." Aunt Pat and I decide to make a squirrel feeder.
Fiction book (2000) -
Rabbit tries to smile comfortingly and tells her, "It must have been that bird food I ate." Nelson was still sleeping at eleven, but Janice was in no hurry for the confrontation.
Fiction book (1990) -
Millet is a wonderful grain, quick-cooking and versatile—yet most people wouldn't even consider it because they believe it is only good as bird food.
Blog text (29) -
Really now, my morning chores take about an hour, then five loads of laundry, gardening, putting out bird food in the feeders, going to town once a week, and watching my grandson occasionally—a well-rounded life.
Blog text (9) -
The garden store carries various types of bird food designed to attract different species.
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Many people enjoy watching the birds as they eat the bird food provided in their yards.
Synonyms
7
1.3
A mix of seeds given to birds to eat
Food for birds, usually a mix of seeds and grains
A mix of seeds fed to small pet birds like canaries and finches
A small hard seed from the safflower plant used for bird food and to make oil
A grass whose seeds are used to feed pet birds like canaries
How Nutritious
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'food for birds' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'bird' (the recipient) with 'food' (the substance), forming a common noun–noun attributive compound meaning 'food intended for birds'. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English compounding, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The name bird food is very literal: bird + food shows it was simply the food people mixed and left for birds. People began making special mixes of seeds and nuts to put in feeders or on the ground so wild or pet birds could eat, especially in winter. That's why bird food means 'a mixture of seeds or other food specially prepared or given to birds'.