Pigeon
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 One of several birds of the family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes. countable
- 2 Concern or responsibility. UK, archaic, countable, idiomatic, informal, uncountable
"It's their pigeon."
- 3 wild and domesticated birds having a heavy body and short legs wordnet
- 4 The meat from this bird. uncountable
- 5 A person who is a target or victim of a confidence game. Canada, US, countable, informal
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- 6 A pacifist, appeaser, an isolationist, a dove. countable
- 7 A person hired to transport film footage out of a region where transport options are limited. countable
"Kalb rushed to the airport and found a "pigeon" to take out the film: an American woman headed for London."
- 8 A weak or useless person. Australia, countable, slang
- 1 To deceive with a confidence game. transitive
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Jackson Township, Spencer County, Indiana. countable, uncountable
- 3 A number of places in the United States:; Two townships in Indiana, in Vanderburgh County and Warrick County. countable, uncountable
- 4 A number of places in the United States:; A village in Winsor Township, Huron County, Michigan. countable, uncountable
- 5 A number of places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Roane County, West Virginia, named after Pigeon Run. countable, uncountable
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- 6 A number of places in the United States:; A town in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"The pigeon and the ostrich are both birds; one can fly and the other cannot."
Etymology
Etymology tree Latin pīpiō Proto-Indo-European *-h₃onh₂der. Latin -ō Latin pipio Old French pyjonbor. Middle English pygeoun English pigeon Inherited from Middle English pygeoun, borrowed from Old French pyjon, inherited from Late Latin pīpiōnem (“chirping bird”), derived from Latin pīpiāre (“to chirp”), of imitative origin. Partly displaced native English dove.
From pidgin English, from a Chinese Pidgin English pronunciation of English business during trade in the Far East. See pidgin.
Related phrases
More for "pigeon"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.