*bird*

(Zool.) See Ant bird, under Ant, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } (Zool.) A common bird (Icterus galbula) of eastern and central America and Canada, named after Lord Baltimore, because its colors (black and orange red) are like those of his coat of arms; -- called also golden robin. It winters in the American tropics. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A small European flycatcher (Muscicapa grisola), so called because it often nests on a beam in a building. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ So called from their notes. ] (Zool.) (a) A South and Central American bird of the genus Casmarhincos, and family Cotingidæ, of several species; the campanero. (b) The Myzantha melanophrys of Australia. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. brid, bred, bird, young bird, bird, AS. bridd young bird. √92. ] 1. Orig., a chicken; the young of a fowl; a young eaglet; a nestling; and hence, a feathered flying animal (see 2). [ 1913 Webster ]

That ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The brydds [ birds ] of the aier have nestes. Tyndale (Matt. viii. 20). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) A warm-blooded, feathered vertebrate provided with wings. See Aves. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Specifically, among sportsmen, a game bird. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Fig.: A girl; a maiden. [ 1913 Webster ]

And by my word! the bonny bird
In danger shall not tarry. Campbell. [ 1913 Webster ]

Arabian bird, the phenix. --
Bird of Jove, the eagle. --
Bird of Juno, the peacock. --
Bird louse (Zool.), a wingless insect of the group Mallophaga, of which the genera and species are very numerous and mostly parasitic upon birds. -- Bird mite (Zool.), a small mite (genera Dermanyssus, Dermaleichus and allies) parasitic upon birds. The species are numerous. --
Bird of passage, a migratory bird. --
Bird spider (Zool.), a very large South American spider (Mygale avicularia). It is said sometimes to capture and kill small birds. --
Bird tick (Zool.), a dipterous insect parasitic upon birds (genus Ornithomyia, and allies), usually winged. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To catch or shoot birds. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: To seek for game or plunder; to thieve. [ R. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. to watch birds, especially in their natural habitats, for enjoyment; to birdwatch. [ PJC ]

n. an ornamental basin (usually in a garden) for birds to bathe in. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A short blunt arrow for killing birds without piercing them. Hence: Anything which smites without penetrating. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. a person with confused ideas; incapable of serious thought.
Syn. -- addle-head, loon. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

{ or } n. A cage for confining birds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A sound made in imitation of the note or cry of a bird for the purpose of decoying the bird or its mate. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An instrument of any kind, as a whistle, used in making the sound of a birdcall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One whose employment it is to catch birds; a fowler. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The art, act, or occupation or catching birds or wild fowls. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Bot.) A shrub (Prunus Padus ) found in Northern and Central Europe. It bears small black cherries. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A birdcatcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. a birdwatcher. [ PJC ]

a. Quick-sighted; catching a glance as one goes. [ 1913 Webster ]

1. One who takes pleasure in rearing or collecting rare or curious birds. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who has for sale the various kinds of birds which are kept in cages. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A pretty or dear little bird; -- a pet name. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A young bird. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A little bird; a nestling. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Resembling a bird. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Bird + lime viscous substance. ] An extremely adhesive viscid substance, usually made of the middle bark of the holly, by boiling, fermenting, and cleansing it. When a twig is smeared with this substance it will hold small birds which may light upon it. Hence: Anything which insnares. [ 1913 Webster ]

Not birdlime or Idean pitch produce
A more tenacious mass of clammy juice. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Birdlime is also made from mistletoe, elder, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To smear with birdlime; to catch with birdlime; to insnare. [ 1913 Webster ]

When the heart is thus birdlimed, then it cleaves to everything it meets with. Coodwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A little bird; a nestling. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A fowler or birdcatcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An aviator; airman. [ Colloq. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

(Zool.) The name of several very beautiful birds of the genus Paradisea and allied genera, inhabiting New Guinea and the adjacent islands. The males have brilliant colors, elegant plumes, and often remarkable tail feathers. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The Great emerald (Paradisea apoda) and the Lesser emerald (Paradisea minor) furnish many of the plumes used as ornaments by ladies; the Red bird of paradise is Paradisea rubra or Paradisea sanguinea; the Golden bird of paradise is Parotia aurea or Parotia sexsetacea; the King bird of paradise is Cincinnurus regius. The name is also applied to the longer-billed birds of another related group (Epimachinæ) from the same region. The Twelve-wired bird of paradise (Seleucides alba) is one of these. See Paradise bird, and Note under Apod. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a common trailing perennial milkwort of eastern North America (Polygala paucifolia), having leaves like wintergreen and usually rosy-purple flowers with winged sepals.
Syn. -- flowering wintergreen, gaywings, gay-wings, fringed polygala. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

A species of capsicum (Capsicum baccatum), whose small, conical, coral-red fruit is among the most piquant of all red peppers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Arch.) A molding whose section is thought to resemble a beak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Canary seed, hemp, millet or other small seeds used for feeding caged birds. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Seen from above, as if by a flying bird; embraced at a glance; hence, general; not minute, or entering into details; as, a bird's-eye view. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Marked with spots resembling bird's eyes; as, bird's-eye diaper; bird's-eye maple. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A plant with a small bright flower, as the Adonis or pheasant's eye, the mealy primrose (Primula farinosa), and species of Veronica, Geranium, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

See under Maple. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A papilionaceous plant, the Ornithopus, having a curved, cylindrical pod tipped with a short, clawlike point. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bird's-foot trefoil. (Bot.) (a) A genus of plants (Lotus) with clawlike pods. Lotus corniculatas, with yellow flowers, is very common in Great Britain. (b) the related plant, Trigonella ornithopodioides, is also European. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Arch.) An interior angle or notch cut across a piece of timber, for the reception of the edge of another, as that in a rafter to be laid on a plate; -- commonly called crow's-foot in the United States. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or } n. 1. The nest in which a bird lays eggs and hatches her young. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Cookery) The nest of a small swallow (Collocalia nidifica and several allied species), of China and the neighboring countries, which is mixed with soups. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The nests are found in caverns and fissures of cliffs on rocky coasts, and are composed in part of algæ. They are of the size of a goose egg, and in substance resemble isinglass. See Illust. under Edible. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) An orchideous plant with matted roots, of the genus Neottia (Neottia nidus-avis). [ 1913 Webster ]

Bird's-nest pudding, a pudding containing apples whose cores have been replaced by sugar. --
Yellow bird's nest, a plant, the Monotropa hypopitys. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Hunting for, or taking, birds' nests or their contents. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The knotgrass (Polygonum aviculare). [ 1913 Webster ]

v. to watch birds, especially in their natural habitats, for enjoyment or as a hobby; to bird{ 3 }. [ PJC ]

n. one who enjoys watching birds, especially to find and identify a variety of birds in their natural habitats; a birder{ 2 }. [ PJC ]

a. Flighty; passing rapidly from one subject to another; not having the faculty of attention. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An airwoman; an aviatress. [ Colloq. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Zool.) In England, a species of thrush (Turdus merula), a singing bird with a fin note; the merle. In America the name is given to several birds, as the Quiscalus versicolor, or crow blackbird; the Agelæus phœniceus, or red-winged blackbird; the cowbird; the rusty grackle, etc. See Redwing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Among slavers and pirates, a negro or Polynesian. [ Cant, pejorative ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A native of any of the islands near Queensland; -- called also Kanaka. [ Australia, pejorative ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. i. to engage in the slave trade. [ Colloq. ] [ PJC ]

n. A slave ship; a slaver. [ Colloq. ] F. T. Bullen. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. The kidnaping of negroes or Polynesians to be sold as slaves. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. The act or practice of collecting natives of the islands near Queensland for service on the Queensland sugar plantations. [ Australia ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]