hood ornament
5
5.0
- noun
- /hʊd ˈɔrnəmənt/
- US
:
adorno del capó
- While getting some photos of a burgundy red Packard phaeton, I noticed that the classic behind the Packard was a Duesenberg, or rather, it had a Duesenberg hood ornament.
- a car hood ornament
Examples
-
If you look at his record, you'll see Mr. Griggs only takes hood ornaments from Mercedes.
-
The classic car's hood ornament resembled a graceful bird in flight.
-
Looks like they got the hood ornament.
-
You wanna ask me about the hood ornament?
-
What about the hood ornament?
-
First you asked for a car, then you asked for a hood ornament.
Blog text (29) -
That's the hood ornament version of the Flying B logo with wings.
-
The hood ornament.
-
The boy had a Mercedes hood ornament on a leather thong around his neck.
Fiction book (1995) -
Hood ornament's missing.
Synonyms
102
1.6
A decoration placed on something to make it look nicer
42
4.0
A visible thing with a design that represents a group, idea or quality
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'hood' (the car’s front covering) with 'ornament' (a decorative attachment): an ornament located on the hood. This is a straightforward noun–noun compound following common English composition patterns (and similar constructions in other languages), so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Hood ornament comes from the old habit of fixing a small metal figure or badge to the car's hood, the front part of the car, as a decoration. Because these figures showed the brand or the car's style, hood ornament now means 'a decorative emblem on the front of a car'.