pigeon droppings
1
4.8
- noun
- /ˈpɪdʒən ˈdrɑpɪŋz/
:
excremento de paloma
- clean pigeon droppings
Examples
-
He saw pigeon droppings raining from the sky.
Fiction book (1998) -
The great green bells were covered with pigeon droppings; the birds of Berlin had already lost their fear of the thundering bells of New Church.
Fiction book (1991) -
A bronze statue of a Union soldier, covered with pigeon droppings, guarded the west side with a trapdoor rifle.
Fiction book (1994) -
Penzias and Wilson tried everything they could think of to get rid of the "hash," even spending the better part of a year painstakingly scouring the antenna for pigeon droppings.
Academic text (2000) -
The sidewalks in downtown are often covered in pigeon droppings, making it necessary to watch your step.
-
After the rain, the park benches had streaks of pigeon droppings, reminding visitors to keep them clean.
-
Cleaning the balcony was a challenge due to the large amount of pigeon droppings that had accumulated over time.
Synonyms
57
2.8
The waste animals produce that is often used to fertilize soil
Small piles or pellets of animal poop
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is fully compositional: its meaning (pigeon excrement) is directly derived from the constituent words 'pigeon' and 'droppings' with no idiomatic or metaphorical shift. This literal, non-figurative combination is cross-linguistically common and would be immediately understood by a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Pigeon droppings paints a simple picture: imagine pigeons sitting on a roof or statue and their droppings falling and leaving white stains on buildings and cars. That's why the phrase means 'the excrement produced by pigeons'.