cuckoo
23
4.4
- noun
- /ˈkʊku/
:
cuco
- You know, the cuckoo bird lays its eggs and then pushes, you know, tries to get rid of the other birds eggs, gets other birds to raise its own young.
- a young cuckoo
- a nestling cuckoo
- a cuckoo's egg
So he was looking at birds, for example, these were cuckoo birds.
- So he was looking at birds, for example, these were cuckoo birds.
- And I heard this sound on the hill, on the northern hill and in another cuckoo bird was doing like a answering to that sound.
- So mistaken paternity and genetic cockadry is just one way to capture named after the cuckoo bird, right?
- You know, the cuckoo bird lays its eggs and then pushes, you know, tries to get rid of the other birds eggs, gets other birds to raise its own young.
Examples
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The cuckoo family takes its name from the song of the common or European cuckoo, Cuculus canorus.
Academic text (1996) -
In the spring, I love to hear the cuckoo singing in the trees.
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That is to say, the cuckoo mother does not hatch her own egg.
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Hear him warbling in praise of the cuckoo bird.
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The mother cuckoo never returns to the nest after laying an egg therein.
Academic text (1996) -
Speaker, on Monday morning at Norwich Research Park I thought I heard the sound of a cuckoo, which is remarkable since we haven't even reached Christmas, let alone spring.
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Comparing the size of adult birds, Jenner noted that the cuckoo is much larger than the hedge-sparrow.
Academic text (1996) -
The cuckoo is known for laying its eggs in the nests of other birds.
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When I was a child, I often spotted a cuckoo flying across the field.
Synonyms
A European bird known for its two-note call that lays eggs in other birds' nests
A common European bird with a loud two-note call that lays eggs in other birds' nests
Compounds
- Informal
1
9.9
An imaginary place where people are out of touch with reality because they are too optimistic
A North American bird with a thin black bill that makes its own nest and raises its young
- UK
A plant with three-part heart-shaped leaves and white flowers with purple veins often in damp woods
A common European bird with a loud two-note call that lays eggs in other birds' nests
Surface Forms
Etymology
Cuckoo comes from the sound the bird makes, 'cuckoo', so the name is like the bird calling. The bird is also famous for laying its eggs in other birds' nests, so the word brings to mind both the call and this strange behaviour.