What does "bird" mean?
An animal of the clade (traditionally class) Aves in the phylum Chordata, characterized by being warm-blooded, having feathers and wings usually capable of flight, having a beaked mouth, and laying eggs.
Bird
/bɜːd/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An animal of the clade (traditionally class) Aves in the phylum Chordata, characterized by being warm-blooded, having feathers and wings usually capable of flight, having a beaked mouth, and laying eggs.
- Grammar: bird is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: fowl, birdie, accentor, ani.
- Useful contrasts: reptilian, coati, ignore.
- Usage evidence: The early bird catches the worm.
How to use "bird"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "bird" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "bird" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "bird" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "bird" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "bird" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "fowl" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "bird", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An animal of the clade (traditionally class) Aves in the phylum Chordata, characterized by being warm-blooded, having feathers and wings usually capable of flight, having a beaked mouth, and laying eggs.
"Ducks and sparrows are birds."
- 2 A prison sentence. slang, uncountable
"He’s doing bird."
- 3 warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings wordnet
- 4 A chicken; the young of a fowl; a young eaglet; a nestling. obsolete
"[…] the foxes have holes, and the brydds of the aier have nestes, but [t]he sonne of the man hath not where onto leye his heede: […]"
- 5 badminton equipment consisting of a ball of cork or rubber with a crown of feathers wordnet
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 A chicken or turkey used as food. slang
"Pitch in and help me stuff the bird if you want Thanksgiving dinner."
- 7 a cry or noise made to express displeasure or contempt wordnet
- 8 A man, fellow. slang
"He once took in his own mother, and was robbed by a 'pal,' who thought he was a doctor. Oh, he's a rare bird is 'Gentleman Joe'!"
- 9 the flesh of a bird or fowl (wild or domestic) used as food wordnet
- 10 A girl or woman, especially one considered sexually attractive. Ireland, UK, colloquial
"And by my word! the bonny bird / In danger shall not tarry."
- 11 informal terms for a (young) woman wordnet
- 12 A girl or woman, especially one considered sexually attractive.; A girlfriend. Ireland, UK, broadly, colloquial
"Mike went out with his bird last night."
- 13 An aircraft. slang
"“Cabin cleaners? They have worked on this bird. Don't you know you've always got to clean up after the cleaners? What they don't teach you in school these days.”"
- 14 A satellite. slang
"Deployment of the fourth bird "should ensure that Inmarsat has sufficient capacity in orbit in the early 1990s, taking into account the possibility of launch failures and the age of some of the spacecraft in the Inmarsat first generation system"
- 15 Booing and jeering, especially as done by an audience expressing displeasure at a performer. UK, with-definite-article
"to give the bird"
- 16 The vulgar hand gesture in which the middle finger is extended. with-definite-article
"to flip the bird"
- 17 A yardbird.
- 18 A kilogram of cocaine. US, slang
"Never dirt on my knees I'm just serving these fiends Sell birds to the bees I sell birds to the trees"
- 19 A penis. Canada, Philippines, slang
"BUBBLES: One time I was making a model and I glued the wing to a B17 bomber to my bird by accident."
- 20 Snowbird (retiree who moves to a warmer climate). informal
Verb
- 1 To observe or identify wild birds in their natural environment. intransitive
- 2 To bring into prison, to roof. slang, transitive
"Free Criminal, he got birded That's a L but I know he’ll firm it I was vexed when I heard that verdict"
- 3 watch and study birds in their natural habitat wordnet
- 4 To catch or shoot birds; to hunt birds. intransitive
- 5 To seek for game or plunder; to thieve. figuratively, intransitive
"MAMMON: These day-owls. SURLY: That are birding in men's purses"
Show 1 more definition
- 6 To transmit via satellite. transitive
"Unless the TV crew has its own flyaway, the locals can still defeat a story they couldn't prevent reporters from covering by cutting it off at the pass, when it is being birded through their facilities."
Adjective
- 1 Able to be passed with very little work; having the nature of a bird course. Canada, colloquial
"SOC100 isn’t bird at all lol. But ANT101 is super easy & the prof (Dr. Sherry Fukuzawa) is amazing."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 Charlie Parker (1920–1955), Jazz saxophonist.
"When Bird played like that, it was like hearing music for the first time. I'd never heard anybody play like that. Later Sonny Rollins and I would try to do things like that, and me and Trane, those short, hard bursts of musical phrases. But when Bird played like that, he was outrageous…"
Example
"The early bird catches the worm."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "bird"?
Common synonyms include: fowl, birdie, accentor, ani, argus, atomic warhead.
How do you use "bird" in a sentence?
The early bird catches the worm.
How do you pronounce "bird"?
Pronounced /bɜːd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English bird, brid, from Old English bridd (“chick, fledgling, chicken”), of uncertain origin (see Old English bridd for more). Originally from a term used of birds that could not fly (chicks, fledglings, chickens) as opposed to the general Old English term for flying birds, fugol (modern fowl). Gradually replaced fowl as the most common term starting in the 14th century. The "booing/jeering" and "vulgar hand gesture" senses derived from the expression “to give the big bird”, as in “to hiss someone like a goose”, dated in the mid‐18th century.
Etymology 2
Originally Cockney rhyming slang, shortened from bird-lime for "time".
Etymology 3
* As an English and Scottish surname, from the noun bird. * As an Irish surname, Anglicized/translated from several names erroneously thought to contain the element éan (“bird”) such as Ó hÉinigh (see Heagney), Ó hÉanna (see Heaney), Ó hÉanacháin (see Heneghan) and Mac an Déaghanaigh (see McEneaney). * Similarly translated from several other languages containing the word bird, such as German Vogel, French Loiseau, Czech Ptáček see Ptacek), Pták, Polish Ptak. * This also extends to Native American names, such as Lakota ziŋtkala (“bird”). Compare Eagle, Hawk; Blackbird, Kingbird, Redbird, etc.