buzzard
- noun
- /ˈbʌzərd/
- US
- As we hiked through the desert, we spotted a group of buzzards circling high above, searching for their next meal.
- turkey buzzards
- buzzards picking
- buzzards circling
Now we're dealing with rattlers out there, Pumas, there's some serious animals out there, some buzzards.
- Now we're dealing with rattlers out there, Pumas, there's some serious animals out there, some buzzards.
Examples
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The buzzards are circling.
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A flock of buzzards sit on a fence discussing the price of carrion.
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The buzzard would have got fat on us all right.
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"Hey," the man says, "how come you old turkey buzzard setting here?"
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Yeah, and give them buzzards a chance.
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Hurry, hurry, the buzzards are waiting for thee.
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In a weeks' time, the buzzards and the ants will have done away with him anyway.
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We were just using the horn to chase off a few buzzards.
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To ranchers and cowboys, the buzzards have become a sign not of dying cattle, but of a dying human.
Blog text (12) -
Riding across the northeast corner of the ranch, Kurt spotted a pack of turkey buzzards wheeling in the cloudless morning light.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
A large bird with a bare head that eats dead animals
A large bird with dark feathers that eats dead animals
A large bird with a red bald head that eats dead animals
A large American vulture with a red head that eats dead animals
A large bird in the Americas that eats dead animals and often has a bare head
Idioms
- Offensive
To wait for someone else to have a problem so you can gain from it
- Informal
Someone acts in a greedy way while waiting to gain from someone else's trouble
Compounds
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word buzzard was later used by English speakers in America for large birds that eat dead animals, like vultures, because settlers used the old name for any big bird of prey or scavenger. That's why in the US a buzzard often means a vulture.