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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

cut the pigeon wing en · VERB

Meanings

  1. (US, dated, idiomatic) To dance with graceful or fancy movements.
    • […]that was because no manager could imagine that audiences would pay to see Negro performers in any other role than that of Mississippi River roustabouts; but there was lots of talent and ambition. I often heard the younger and brighter men discussing the time when they would compel the public to recognize that they could do something more than grin and cut pigeon-wings. 1912, James Weldon Johnson, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man:
    • They all tried to be polite, and Russ grew quite friendly with one of the bellboys who brought them ice water. He asked that boy if he knew how to cut the pigeon wing, and the boy grinned very broadly. 1922, Laura Lee Hope [pseudonym], Six little Bunkers at Mammy June's:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
cut the pigeon wing Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
cut the pigeon wing Tense=Past lexicographic
cutting the pigeon wing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
cut pigeon wings alternative lexicographic
cuts the pigeon wing Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
cut the pigeon's wing alternative lexicographic

Relateds

pigeonwing · cut a rug