turkey

/ˈtɝki/

UK: /ˈtɜːki/

turkey

English Noun Top 3,152
American (Lessac) (medium)
Female 0.6s
American (Amy) (medium)
Female 0.7s
American (Ryan) (medium)
Male 0.3s
Ad

Definition

The guinea fowl (family Numididae).

Etymology

Clipping of turkey-cock and turkey-hen, originally denoting the guinea fowl, an African bird that was first imported to Europe through Turkey, but there is some controversy over the origin. The word was then transferred to the superficially similar North American bird Meleagris gallopavo.

Example Sentences

  • "It was a Turkey! He never could have stood upon his legs, that bird. He would have snapped 'em short off in a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax."
  • "All week after Thanksgiving, I had turkey sandwiches for lunch."
  • "Mumford (1970) noted that the terms ‘crock’, ‘gomer’, and ‘turkey’, were sometimes utilized by interns to designate different types of undesirable patients, and sometimes used synonymously."
Ad

Related Words