crow (English, noun)
Pronunciation: tags: Received-Pronunciation
ipa: /kɹəʊ/
tags: US
enpr: krō
ipa: /kɹoʊ/
tags: US
rhymes: -əʊ
homophone: cro
homophone: Crow
Etymology: From Middle English crowe, from Old English crāwe, from Proto-West Germanic *krāā, from Proto-Germanic *krēǭ (compare West Frisian krie, Dutch kraai, German Krähe), from *krēaną (“to crow”). See below.
Definitions: examples: text: Gaslark in his splendour on the golden stairs saying adieu to those three captains and their matchless armament foredoomed to dogs and crows on Salapanta Hills.
ref: 1922, E.R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroborus:
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glosses: A bird, usually black, of the genus Corvus, having a strong conical beak, with projecting bristles; it has a harsh, croaking call.
glosses: Any of various dark-coloured nymphalid butterflies of the genus Euploea.
examples: text: He approached the humble tomb in which Antonia reposed. He had provided himself with an iron crow and a pick-axe: but this precaution was unnecessary.
ref: 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society, published 1985, page 267:
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text: Watt might have broken the door down, with an axe, or a crow, or a small charge of explosive, but this might have aroused Erskine's suspicions, and Watt did not want that.
ref: 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:
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synonyms: crowbar
glosses: A bar of iron with a beak, crook or claw; a bar of iron used as a lever; a crowbar.
examples: text: “Ay,” put in a young man, who had the reputation of being the smartest “crow” in London—“‘fishers of men,’ as the parson says.”
ref: 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of his Natural Life, Penguin, published 2009, page 53:
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text: By nine o'clock on the evening of November 12, 1854, Pierce had his confederates in their places. The crow, Agar's woman, lounged across the street from the Trent mansion.
ref: 1975, Michael Crichton, The Great Train Robbery:
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glosses: Someone who keeps watch while their associates commit a crime; a lookout.
tags: archaic
slang
glosses: A gangplank (corvus) used by the Ancient Roman navy to board enemy ships.
tags: historical
qualifier: among butchers
glosses: The mesentery of an animal.
examples: text: But it helps a man along to have a wife he can be proud of. Suppose you marry some old crow. People point at her and ask, 'Who is that death's head yonder?'
ref: 1899, George Horton, A Fair Brigand, H.S. Stone, page 242:
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text: (Mrs. Meany to Woody, from a window) "I don't care! I'm not running a pet shop."
"Well it looks like one with an old crow in the window!"
ref: 1970, Paul J. Smith, 0:13 from the start, in Woody Woodpecker: "Seal on the Loose", spoken by Woody Woodpecker (Grace Stafford):
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synonyms: shrew
glosses: An ill-tempered and obstinate woman, or one who otherwise has features resembling the bird; a harpy.
tags: derogatory
glosses: A black person.
tags: ethnic
offensive
slang
slur
examples: text: A young petty officer that must have just received his “crow” (a single chevron, with an eagle over it) was showing off to several seamen.
ref: 2002, Ed Goodrich, Riggers that Dive, page 46:
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text: The young man had been threatened with loss of his third class rank, his “crow,” the eagle in a petty officer's sleeve insignia.
ref: 2003, Jonathan T. Malay, Seraphim Sky, page 106:
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topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: The emblem of an eagle, a sign of military rank.
tags: slang
Forms: form: crows
tags: plural
Hyponyms: taxonomic: Corvus brachyrhynchos
word: American crow
taxonomic: Corvus orru
word: Australian crow
taxonomic: Corvus unicolor
word: Banggai crow
taxonomic: Corvus tristis
word: bare-faced crow
taxonomic: Corvus insularis
word: Bismarck crow
taxonomic: Corvus capensis
word: black crow
word: blue-wattled crow
taxonomic: Corvus meeki
word: Bougainville crow
taxonomic: Corvus fuscicapillus
word: brown-headed crow
taxonomic: Corvus capensis
word: Cape crow
taxonomic: Corvus corone
word: carrion crow
taxonomic: Corvus torquatus
word: collared crow
taxonomic: Corvus nasicus
word: Cuban crow
taxonomic: Corvus cornix
word: Danish crow
word: dun crow
taxonomic: Corvus corone
word: Eurasian crow
taxonomic: Corvus ossifragus
word: fish crow
taxonomic: Corvus florensis
word: Flores crow
taxonomic: Corvus tristis
word: grey crow
taxonomic: Corvus tropicus
word: Hawaiian crow
word: hermit-crow
alt: †Corvus impluviatus
word: high-billed crow
taxonomic: Corvus cornix
word: hooded crow
taxonomic: Corvus cornix
word: hoodiecrow
taxonomic: Corvus splendens
word: house crow
taxonomic: Corvus jamaicensis
word: Jamaican crow
taxonomic: Corvus macrorhynchos
word: jungle crow
taxonomic: Corvus macrorhynchos macrorhynchus
word: large-billed crow
taxonomic: Corvus bennetti
word: little crow
taxonomic: Corvus validus
word: long-billed crow
taxonomic: Corvus kubaryi
word: Mariana crow
taxonomic: Corvus cornix capellanus
word: Mesopotamian crow
taxonomic: Corvus moneduloides
word: New Caledonian crow
taxonomic: Corvus caurinus
word: northwestern crow
word: Pagenstecher's crow
taxonomic: Corvus palmarum
word: palm crow
taxonomic: Corvus albus
word: pied crow
taxonomic: Corvus typicus
word: piping crow
taxonomic: Corvus pumilis
word: Puerto Rican crow
taxonomic: Corvus viriosus
word: robust crow
word: Royston crow
taxonomic: Corvus woodfordi
word: Salomon Islands crow
word: scald-crow
taxonomic: Corvus cornix
word: Scotch crow
word: sea crow
taxonomic: Corvus sinaloae
word: Sinaloan crow
taxonomic: Corvus enca
word: slender-billed crow
english: butterfly
taxonomic: Euploea darchia
word: small brown crow
taxonomic: Corvus edithae
word: Somali crow
taxonomic: Corvus imparatus
word: Tamaulipas crow
taxonomic: Corvus orru
word: Torresian crow
taxonomic: Corvus enca violaceus
word: violaceous crow
taxonomic: Corvus woodfordi
word: white-billed crow
taxonomic: Corvus leucognaphalus
word: white-necked crow
word: †New Ireland crow
Derived terms: word: as the crow flies
word: crowbait
word: crowberry
word: crowbill
word: crow cage
word: crowdom
word: croweater
word: crowflower
word: crowfoot
word: crowkeeper
word: crowlike
word: crow-line
word: crowly
word: crow moon
word: crow pheasant
word: crow pose
word: crow scarer
english: facial wrinkle
word: crow's foot
word: crow-silk
word: crow's nest
word: crowstep
word: crowstone
word: crow-tit
word: crowtoe
word: crow to pick
word: crow to pluck
word: crow to pull
word: crow-trodden
word: eat boiled crow
word: eat crow
word: fruitcrow
word: gallicrow
word: gorcrow
word: hoarse as a crow
word: holy crow
word: John crow
word: king crow
word: paradise-crow
word: pig's-crow
word: rain crow
word: scarecrow
word: stone the crows
word: water crow