Dictionary

oof-bird en · NOUN

Etymology

UK late 19th century–1910s.

Meanings

1. (British, dated, idiomatic, slang) Any source or supplier of money.
   • "I guess you're attracted to Africa by the lure of the Oof bird," Gifford said eagerly smearing a layer of orange marmalade on thick bread roasted over the campfire. 2003, Peter Van Wyk, “The Call to Monomotapa”, in Burnham: King of Scouts, page 65:
   • It is a sad and weary time for many, for when the dustman, the man who blacks the boots, and he with the grog-blossom on his nose who does nothing but hold cab-doors open when nobody asks him to have all been paid, the oof bird takes unto itself wings and flies away. 1888 December 27, The Sportsman:
   • “Oh,” Johnnie was saying, “so Quest is his name, is it, and he lives in a city called Boisingham, does he? Is he an oof bird?” (rich) “Rather,” answered the Tiger, “if only one can make the dollars run, but he's a nasty mean boy, he is. 1888, H. Rider Haggard, Colonel Quaritch V.C. (archive.org ebook), page 232
   • If you make an oof-bird and feed him properly all the time, you will grow rich. 1937 August 28, “The Oof-bird Feeds on Pennies”, in The Argus, page 36:
   • The probability is that he's a crackpot; and if he isn't, he has some little game on foot — in close association with the hunt of the oof-bird! — which he tried to work off on me, but couldn't'. 1897, Richard Marsh, “The Picture”, in The Beetle:

Forms

Hyponyms

feathered oof-bird

Synonyms

golden goose · oof-bag