Cere
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A fleshy, waxy area at the base of the upper beak in certain birds.
"The cere is the fleshy spot just above the beak where the nostrils, or nares, are located. In some species, like the parakeet, the cere is prominent; in others, the cere is covered by feathers. Both the cere and the nares should be clean[…]"
- 2 the fleshy, waxy covering at the base of the upper beak of some birds wordnet
- 1 To wax; to cover or close with wax. transitive
"a strong twisted Thread cered"
- 2 wrap up in a cerecloth wordnet
Example
More examples"The cere is the fleshy spot just above the beak where the nostrils, or nares, are located. In some species, like the parakeet, the cere is prominent; in others, the cere is covered by feathers. Both the cere and the nares should be clean[…]"
Etymology
From Middle English sere, from Old French cire, from Latin cera (“wax, cere”), or via Latin cero (“I smear or coat with wax”).
More for "cere"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.