/ˈbɜɪ̯d/ New York City, Southern US, coil-curl, dated
[ˈbɚ̞d] (Canadian, General-American, Standard)
/ˈbɜːd/ (Australia)
/ˈbɘːd/ (Australia)
[ˈbɝˑd] (Canadian, General-American, Standard)
[ˈbɪɹd] (Scotland)
[ˈbɜɪ̯d] New York City, Southern US, coil-curl, dated
/ˈbɪɹd/ (Scotland)
[ˈbɜ̝ːd] (Australia)
/ˈbøːd/ (New-Zealand)
[ˈbʊ̈ːɹd] Dublin, Cork
Etymology
Etymology tree
Old English bridd
Middle English brid
English bird
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.
Meanings
(Canada, colloquial, of a school or university course) Able to be passed with very little work; having the nature of a bird course.
SOC100 isn’t bird at all lol. But ANT101 is super easy & the prof (Dr. Sherry Fukuzawa) is amazing. 2020 October 16, illegalsalt, “Thoughts on these bird courses”, in Reddit, r/UTM:
but admittedly, all the hours spent creating excel sheets optimizing my course plan, all the research finding the absolutely best professors, all the smart friends i made, all the alumni i contacted to collect crowdmarks of past exams, all the research i did finding the birdiest courses of all...... all of it was wayyyyyy more fun to me than just sitting down and studying like a normal kid. it was kind of just like playing a video game. 2022 June 17, ConradIsMyDaddy, “How to Graduate from the University of Waterloo's Computer Science Program with the Least Amount of Effort”, in Reddit, r/uwaterloo:
/ˈbɜɪ̯d/ New York City, Southern US, coil-curl, dated
[ˈbɚ̞d] (Canadian, General-American, Standard)
/ˈbɜːd/ (Australia)
/ˈbɘːd/ (Australia)
[ˈbɝˑd] (Canadian, General-American, Standard)
[ˈbɪɹd] (Scotland)
[ˈbɜɪ̯d] New York City, Southern US, coil-curl, dated
/ˈbɪɹd/ (Scotland)
[ˈbɜ̝ːd] (Australia)
/ˈbøːd/ (New-Zealand)
[ˈbʊ̈ːɹd] Dublin, Cork
Etymology
Etymology tree
Old English bridd
Middle English brid
English bird
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.
Meanings
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.
The level below this is called the Phylum; birds belong to the Phylum Chordata, which includes all the vertebrate animals (the sub-phylum Vertebrata) and a few odds and ends. 2004, Bruce Whittington, Loucas Raptis, Seasons with Birds, page 50:
(obsolete) Any winged animal.
(obsolete) A young bird, a nestling.
[…] 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: […] 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew viij:[20], folio x, recto:
That ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird. c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
(slang) A man, fellow.
The door opened and a tall hungry-looking bird with a cane and a big nose came in neatly, shut the door behind him against the pressure of the door closer, marched over to the desk and placed a wrapped parcel on the desk. 1939, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Penguin, published 2011, page 24:
"But you think he's right?" "Could be. They're rum birds, all right." 1957, Sydney J. Bounds, The Robot Brains, London: Digit Books, page 35:
"Ah, he's a funny bird," said Phaedra, throwing a leg over the sill. 2006, Jeff Fields, Terry Kay, A cry of angels:
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'! 1886, Edmund Routledge, Routledge's every boy's annual:
"What I mean - I expect that old, red-headed bird at the office sent you round with no other purpose." 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
(Ireland, UK, colloquial) A girl or woman, especially one considered sexually attractive.
The usual visual grammar was in place – a carpet in the street, people in paddocks awaiting a brush with something glamorous, blokes with earpieces, birds in frocks of colliding colours that if sighted in nature would indicate the presence of poison. 2013 September 13, Russell Brand, “Russell Brand and the GQ awards: 'It's amazing how absurd it seems'”, in The Guardian:
And by my word! the bonny bird / In danger shall not tarry. 1809, Thomas Campbell, Lord Ullin's Daughter:
After tea, the bright boys wash, clean their boots, and change into their “second-best” attire, and stroll forth[…]; sometimes to saunter, in company with others, up and down that parade until they “click” with one of the “birds.” 1918 [1915], Thomas Burke, Nights in London, New York: Henry Holt and Company, page 75:
“All these fantastic birds, long hair, made up, false eyelashes and things, crowding round this group of scabby, spotty teenagers,” marveled Anderson. 2017, David Weigel, The Show That Never Ends: The Rise and Fall of Prog Rock, W. W. Norton & Company:
Are you calling me “darlin’”? / Are you calling me “bird”? 2007, Jules De Martino, Katie White, “That's Not My Name”, performed by The Ting Tings:
(Ireland, UK, broadly, colloquial) A girl or woman, especially one considered sexually attractive. ▸ A girlfriend.
Mike went out with his bird last night.
But all of a sudden though, just through the smoke / It's your bird laughing and joking with a bloke / Ain't just that either, as she moves closer / In a shape what looks like they're lovers, he's tonguing her! 2002, “Geezers need excitement”, in Mike Skinner (lyrics), Original Pirate Material, performed by The Streets:
(slang) An aircraft.
Any of our birds squawking? 2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, spoken by Miranda Keyes (Justis Bolding), Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: Crow's Nest:
“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.” 1967, Trudy Baker, Rachel Jones, Donald Bain (uncredited), Coffee, Tea, or Me?: The Uninhibited Memoirs of Two Airline Stewardesses, New York: Bantam Books, page 10:
(slang) A satellite.
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 1988, Satellite communications. Jan-Oct. 1988:
Will a government- backed APSTAR satellite knock out a planned AsiaSat II bird? 1992, Cable Vision:
In reality, the Air Force was never able to place a bird in orbit that quickly. 2015, John Fuller, Thor's Legions: Weather Support to the U.S. Air Force and Army, 1937-1987, Springer, →ISBN, page 384:
(UK, in phrases, with-definite-article) Booing and jeering, especially as done by an audience expressing displeasure at a performer.
to give the bird
(with-definite-article) The vulgar hand gesture in which the middle finger is extended.
2002, The Advocate, "Flying fickle finger of faith", page 55.
For whatever reason — and there are so many to chose from — they flipped the bird in the direction of the tinted windows of the Bushmobile.
Then she raised both hands above her shoulders and flipped him the bird with each one. 2003, James Patterson, Peter de Jonge, The Beach House, Warner Books, page 305:
to flip the bird
A yardbird.
(US, slang) A kilogram of cocaine.
Never dirt on my knees
I'm just serving these fiends
Sell birds to the bees
I sell birds to the trees 2015 January 12, Lil Wayne, “Sh!t” (track 2), in Sorry 4 the Wait 2:
(Canada, Philippines, slang) A penis.
BUBBLES: One time I was making a model and I glued the wing to a B17 bomber to my bird by accident. 2004 May 9, Mike Clattenburg, Mike Smith (actor), 05:29 from the start, in Trailer Park Boys(Conky), season 4, episode 5 (TV series), spoken by Bubbles (Mike Smith):
(informal) Snowbird (retiree who moves to a warmer climate).
/ˈbɜɪ̯d/ New York City, Southern US, coil-curl, dated
[ˈbɚ̞d] (Canadian, General-American, Standard)
/ˈbɜːd/ (Australia)
/ˈbɘːd/ (Australia)
[ˈbɝˑd] (Canadian, General-American, Standard)
[ˈbɪɹd] (Scotland)
[ˈbɜɪ̯d] New York City, Southern US, coil-curl, dated
/ˈbɪɹd/ (Scotland)
[ˈbɜ̝ːd] (Australia)
/ˈbøːd/ (New-Zealand)
[ˈbʊ̈ːɹd] Dublin, Cork
Etymology
Etymology tree
Old English bridd
Middle English brid
English bird
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.
Meanings
(intransitive) To observe or identify wild birds in their natural environment.
(intransitive) To catch or shoot birds; to hunt birds.
(figuratively, intransitive) To seek for game or plunder; to thieve.
MAMMON: These day-owls.
SURLY: That are birding in men's purses 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, (please specify the Internet Archive page), (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
(transitive) To transmit via satellite.
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. 1995, David D. Pearce, Wary Partners: Diplomats and the Media, page 43:
After being sent by fast car to Tel Aviv the cassettes would be 'birded' by satellite to the USA and London. 2012, Yoel Cohen, Media Diplomacy, page 127:
/ˈbɜɪ̯d/ New York City, Southern US, coil-curl, dated
[ˈbɚ̞d] (Canadian, General-American, Standard)
/ˈbɜːd/ (Australia)
/ˈbɘːd/ (Australia)
[ˈbɝˑd] (Canadian, General-American, Standard)
[ˈbɪɹd] (Scotland)
[ˈbɜɪ̯d] New York City, Southern US, coil-curl, dated
/ˈbɪɹd/ (Scotland)
[ˈbɜ̝ːd] (Australia)
/ˈbøːd/ (New-Zealand)
[ˈbʊ̈ːɹd] Dublin, Cork
Etymology
Originally Cockney rhyming slang, shortened from bird-lime for "time".
Meanings
(slang, transitive) To bring into prison, to roof.
Free Criminal, he got birded
That's a L but I know he’ll firm it
I was vexed when I heard that verdict 2017, “No Hook”, ZK & Digga D (lyrics), CDM (music):