primary quill
- noun
- Specialized
:
pluma primaria
- A broken primary quill can affect a bird's ability to fly efficiently.
Examples
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Scientists collected a primary quill for DNA analysis.
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The eagle lost a primary quill during its last molt.
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The eagle's primary quill is essential for its flight.
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Do you know what a primary quill is?
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A broken primary quill can affect a bird's ability to fly efficiently.
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The eagle lost a primary quill during its last molt.
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The eagle's primary quill is essential for its flight.
Synonyms
2
8.7
A long feather at the outer edge of a bird's wing that helps it fly
1
8.2
Large outer wing feathers that birds use to fly
1
5.3
The hollow central part of a bird's feather
1
5.2
A long part of a bird's wing at the outer edge that helps the bird fly
1
4.5
A large stiff feather on a bird's wing or tail that helps it fly
A long stiff part of a bird's wing once used for writing
How Important
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'primary' indicates a main/outer flight feather and 'quill' denotes a flight feather or its shaft, so 'primary quill' straightforwardly denotes one of the main flight feathers. This noun-modifier combination follows regular descriptive composition and is likely understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.
Etymology
Primary quill comes from bird wings: the primary are the main feathers at the wing edge and the quill is the stiff center of a feather once used as a 'pen'. These strong parts help birds push air and fly, so a primary quill means one of the main flight feathers.