Dictionary

shitehawk en · NOUN

Etymology

From shite + hawk.

Meanings

1. (Ireland, UK, informal) A large scavenging or predatory bird; especially (originally in military use in South Asia) the black kite.
   • Shite-hawks..are more properly known as black kites,..gaining their unlovely nickname from British troops who used to get the meat stolen from their plates by these bold and skilful birds. 2006 March 11, Simon Barnes, “At deep mid-wicket I can see a face like a gargoyle – but wings like an angel”, in The Times, page 23:
   • Possibly one of the most highly protected birds today is the kite, known by the British Army throughout the world as a shite-hawk. 1999 April 28, Lord Burton, “Capercaillie”, in parliamentary debates (House of Lords), column 423:
2. (Ireland, UK, informal) The European herring gull.
3. (Ireland, UK, informal, vulgar) An objectionable person; a twat or wanker.
   • "Watch yer language, ye shitehawk." His da had heard the din from the kitchen and had decided to have his say in the matter. 1997, Valerie Maher, Sarah's Gate: Tales from Ballyhornet:
   • ...any analyst who puts out a book with the word "ethics" in the title is invariably an incorrigible shitehawk. 2007, Chris Oakley, Football Delirium:
   • When I win, Liam still suggests on the eighteenth green that I'm a nine-fingered shitehawk. 2005, Andrew M Greeley, The Priestly Sins:
   • What must it be like, to be such a fucking gimp, and see perfection, and know you're too much of a shitehawk to ever have it? 2001, Gary Owen, Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco:

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