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😊 A plump person 🦆 A small duck
butterball

butterball

3 9.7
A small North American diving duck with a round head and bushy feathers
  • noun
  • /ˈbʌtərˌbɔl/
  • US
translation icon : bufflehead (pato buceador)
  • Outside, the Earth kids and the Deltanian butterballs were admiring my Nishiki.
  • Butterball turkey
  • Butterball hotline

Examples

  • I grew up on frozen Butterball turkeys, so for my first foray into hosting, I bought a fresh turkey, and it's not an exaggeration; it was the best turkey I've had!

    Blog text (27)

  • In fact, low profit margins are the main reason that Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) sold off its 49% stake in Butterball, the top producer of turkeys in the United States, for $175 million back in September 2010.

    Blog text (25)

  • Print a NEW $3/1 Butterball Fresh or Frozen Whole Turkey!

    Blog text (11)

  • No problem: the butterballs were probably getting something else to eat.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The cheaper and still delicious alternative is the classic Butterball standby.

    Blog text (25)

  • "Or you either!" he snapped at the butterball turkeys.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • "You be quiet, Pahtui," the smallest butterball turkey said scoldingly in a little girl's voice.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Sends a dreamy email that likens the hanging sack from which he's fed through the IV portal in his chest to a high school cafeteria brown-gravy butterball turkey and its trimmings.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The plant, located in Carthage, Missouri, is parked about 100 yards from ConAgra Foods' Butterball plant, where 35,000 turkeys are butchered daily, the corpses then trucked next door to be converted into oil.

    Blog text (25)

  • The male butterball is easily recognized by its distinctive bushy head and striking plumage.

Synonyms

duck
vsbutterball
290 1.0

A water bird with webbed feet, a wide beak, and short neck

is the specific diving species with bushy-headed males rather than any webfoot bird
bufflehead
vsbutterball
  • US
1 9.9

A small diving duck with a large white patch on the head

is the common alternative name for the same species
Bucephela albeola
vsbutterball
  • Specialized
9.9

A small North American diving duck whose male has a round head with a white patch

is the common alternative name used for this species
dipper
vsbutterball
  • US
9.0

A small North American duck with a bushy head that dives underwater

is the common name that identifies this specific species

Surface Forms

butterball singular
butterballs plural

Morphology

butterball = butter + ball (opaque) = butter + ball

Although transparently formed from 'butter' + 'ball', the sense is a specific bird name (bufflehead) whose meaning as a species is not predictable from the parts.

Etymology

Butterball for the duck comes from butter + ball, giving the picture of 'a ball of butter' that is small and round, so the name fits the little, compact duck.